Neuropathic Pain literature

BACKGROUND: The aim of this paper is to provide a systematic review of the literature regarding the clinical use of botulinum toxin (BTX) to treat various orofacial neuropathic pain disorders (NP). METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was conducted using Medline, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library databases. Only randomized clinical trials (RCT) published between 2003 and the end of June 2023, investigating the use of BTX to treat NP, were selected. PICO guidelines were used to select and tabulate the articles...

STUDY DESIGN: Multicentre, cross-sectional study. OBJECTIVES: To determine if clinical measures of poor mental health (MH-) and neuropathic pain (NP) are related to increased CVD risk in individuals with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI), and further elucidate the relationships between CVD risk, autonomic function, NP, and MH-. SETTING: Eight SCI rehabilitation centres in the Netherlands. METHODS: Individuals (n = 257) with a traumatic, chronic (≥10 yrs) SCI, with age at injury between 18-35 years, completed a self-report questionnaire and a one-day visit to a rehabilitation centre for testing...

Aim: The Combining Mechanisms for Better Outcomes randomized controlled trial assessed the effectiveness of various spinal cord stimulation (SCS) modalities for chronic pain. Specifically, combination therapy (simultaneous use of customized sub-perception field and paresthesia-based SCS) versus monotherapy (paresthesia-based SCS) was evaluated. Methods: Participants were prospectively enrolled (key inclusion criterion: chronic pain for ≥6 months). Primary end point was the proportion with ≥50% pain reduction without increased opioids at the 3-month follow-up...

BACKGROUND: Pituitary neurosurgery executed via the transsphenoidal endonasal approach is commonly performed for pituitary adenomas. Reasons for prolonged hospital stay include postoperative headache and protracted nausea with or without vomiting. Bilateral superficial trigeminal nerve blocks of the supra-orbital V1 and infra-orbital V2 (SION) nerves performed intra-operatively as a regional anesthetic adjunct to general anesthesia were hypothesized to decrease 6 hours postoperative morphine PCA (patient-controlled analgesia) use by patients...

OBJECTIVE: Occipital nerve stimulation (ONS) and deep brain stimulation (DBS) are widely used surgical treatments for chronic refractory cluster headache (CH). However, there is little literature regarding long-term follow-up of these treatments. METHODS: The authors describe two prospective cohorts of patients with refractory CH treated with ONS and DBS and compare preoperative to postoperative status at 6 and 12 months after the surgery and at final follow-up...

OBJECTIVE: Lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) can lead to compression of the neural and vascular elements and is becoming more common due to degenerative changes that occur because of aging processes. Symptoms may manifest as pain and discomfort that radiates to the lower leg, thigh, and/or buttocks. The traditional treatment algorithm for LSS consists of conservative management (physical therapy, medication, education, exercise), often followed by epidural steroid injections (ESIs), and when nonsurgical treatment has failed, open decompression surgery with or without fusion is considered...

We evaluated the results of microvascular decompression (MVD) in patients with trigeminal neuralgia (TN) and multiple sclerosis (MS) and we studied the role of several clinical and surgical factors as possible prognosticators of good outcome. To do this we performed, to our knowledge, the first literature review with a pooled analysis of data. A PubMed search of literature was conducted using the following terms: "microvascular decompression", "trigeminal neuralgia" and "multiple sclerosis". We screened 64 articles...

Unremitting head and neck pain (UHNP) is a commonly encountered phenomenon in Headache Medicine and may be seen in the setting of many well-defined headache types. The prevalence of UHNP is not clear, and establishing the presence of UHNP may require careful questioning at repeated patient visits. The cause of UHNP in some patients may be compression of the lesser and greater occipital nerves by the posterior cervical muscles and their fascial attachments at the occipital ridge with subsequent local perineural inflammation...

Neuropathic pain is a chronic secondary pain condition, which is a consequence of peripheral or central nervous (somatosensory) system lesions or diseases. It is a devastating condition, which affects around 7% of the general population. Numerous etiological factors contribute to the development of chronic neuropathic pain. It can originate from the peripheral part of the nervous system such as in the case of trigeminal or postherpetic neuralgia, peripheral nerve injury, painful polyneuropathies, or radiculopathies...

Neuropathic pain after spinal cord injury (SCI) has a significant negative impact on the patients' quality of life. The objective of this systematic review is to examine the safety and efficacy of pregabalin (PGB) and gabapentin (GBP) in the treatment of neuropathic pain due to SCI. PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Embase, Scopus, and the Web of Science were searched up to December 2018. The reference lists of key and review studies were reviewed for additional citations. The quality of the studies was evaluated using the Cochrane Collaboration's tools for assessing the risk of bias...

Intracranial aneurysms confer the risk of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), a potentially devastating condition, though most aneurysms will remain asymptomatic for the lifetime of the patient. Imaging is critical to all stages of patient care for those who harbor an unruptured intracranial aneurysm (UIA), including to establish the diagnosis, to determine therapeutic options, to undertake surveillance in patients who elect not to undergo treatment or whose aneurysm(s) portends such a low risk that treatment is not indicated, and to perform follow-up after treatment...

RATIONALE: Although various oral medications and procedures are applied for managing migraine, their efficacy remains limited. To control migraine that does not respond to conventional treatments, we conducted pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) stimulation to the greater occipital nerve (GON) in 2 patients. PATIENT CONCERNS: Patients 1 and 2 complained of chronic throbbing, pulsating, and tight headaches. Their headache intensities scored 8 and 7 on a numeric rating scale (NRS), respectively...

Unbearable chronic neuropathic pain, which can often not be resolved by conservative pain management techniques, calls for peripheral nerve stimulation. The technique, based on the Gate control hypothesis, uses low intensity current to block depolarization and conduction of neuronal membrane. Conditions such as intractable migraine, occipital and trigeminal neuralgia, burn injury pain, transformed migraine, among others, which cause intense pain can be treated by PNS, especially when the pain is localised and can be traced back to a specific nerve...

OBJECTIVES: The study objectives were to perform a clinical audit of patients implanted with 10 kHz spinal cord (SCS) and peripheral nerve (PNS) stimulators for treating chronic pain and to investigate the effect of 10 kHz PNS on pain and other sensory modalities in a double-blind cross-over trial. METHODS: Pain, disability, and medication status were audited for 12 months after stimulator implantation in 58 SCS patients and in 11 PNS patients with an electrode positioned along a branch of the occipital or trigeminal nerve (four patients), a limb nerve trunk (four patients), or the S1 nerve root, genito-femoral nerve or ileo-inguinal nerve (one patient each)...

Current understanding of the origin of occipital headache falls short of distinguishing between cause and effect. Most preclinical studies involving trigeminovascular neurons sample neurons that are responsive to stimulation of dural areas in the anterior 2/3 of the cranium and the periorbital skin. Hypothesizing that occipital headache may involve activation of meningeal nociceptors that innervate the posterior ⅓ of the dura, we sought to map the origin and course of meningeal nociceptors that innervate the posterior dura overlying the cerebellum...

Neuromodulation techniques play an increasing role in the treatment of primary headaches. While initially reserved for refractory cases they are now increasingly taken into consideration in earlier treatment phases and in non-refractory situations. One of the main reasons for this paradigm shift is that most neuromodulation techniques are better tolerated as compared to the majority of pharmacological approaches. However, these techniques have their limitations that should be considered. Areas covered: The review provides an overview of the available techniques and their therapeutic rationale as well as on the evidence for their efficacy and their limitations...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Occipital neuralgia (ON) and cervicogenic headache (CGH) are secondary headache disorders with occipital pain as a key feature. Due to significant phenotypic overlap, differentiating ON and CGH from primary headache disorders such as migraine or tension-type headache, or other secondary headache disorders, can be clinically challenging. This article reviews the anatomy, clinical features, unique diagnostic considerations, and management approaches relating to ON and CGH...

Although the first publications on clinical use of peripheral nerve stimulation for the treatment of chronic pain came out in the mid-1960s, it took 10 years before this approach was used to stimulate the occipital nerves. The future for occipital nerve stimulation is likely to bring new indications, devices, stimulation paradigms, and a decrease in invasiveness. As experience increases, one may expect that occipital nerve stimulation will eventually gain regulatory approval for more indications, most likely for occipital neuralgia, migraines and cluster headaches...

BACKGROUND: Prognosis of medically treated trigeminal neuralgia patients is assumed to be poor, but the evidence is lacking. Thus, prospective real-life studies of medical management of trigeminal neuralgia are warranted. METHODS: This was an observational study. Patients were consecutively enrolled in a structured management program at a specialist centre for facial pain. Optimisation of medical treatment, physiotherapy, psychotherapy, and advice from trained nurses, were parts of the program...

The upcoming 11th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD) of the World Health Organization (WHO) offers a unique opportunity to improve the representation of painful disorders. For this purpose, the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) has convened an interdisciplinary task force of pain specialists. Here, we present the case for a reclassification of nervous system lesions or diseases associated with persistent or recurrent pain for ≥3 months...