PubMed Health⌕ Search

SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Intractable Pain”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 829 records · Page 46Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

[Role of the lemniscal system in pain modulation--a consideration based on clinical experience].

Ten patients with intractable pain of central origin were operated on for pain relief by implanting the chronic stimulating electrode (Medtronic Co.) in the posterior limb of the internal capsule, thalamic sensory nuclei or mesencephalic lemniscus medialis, and the results were briefly described. Localization of the lesion demonstrated by CT was projected on the Schaltenbrand & Bailey's atlas in each of these patients and the deep brain structure involved was identified. The lesions were located mainly in the posterolateral thalamus including posteromedial part of the internal capsule (thalamic pain), however, they were located outside of the thalamus in some cases (suprathalamic pain). Two particular patients were described in detail because clinical courses, especially operative results were esteemed to be suggestive of an important role of lemniscal system in pain modulation. A 48-year-old man (Case 7) developed severe spontaneous burning pain on the right half of the body after extensive putaminal hemorrhage. Stimulation of the posterior limb of the internal capsule or of the thalamic sensory relay nuclei elicited no pain relief. Consequently a lesion was stereotaxically made in the most medial portion of the lemniscus medialis of the rostral mesencephalon. This operative procedure provoked previously unrecognized significant dysesthesia and hyperpathia predominantly of the extremities as well as aggravation of hypesthesia and hypalgesia. The second patient (Case 8) was a 44-year-old man who developed dysesthesia, hyperpathia and spontaneous pain of the left hand and face after hemorrhage in the right sensory cortex. Stimulation of the mesencephalic lemniscus medialis of the right side elicited comfortable warm sensation in contralateral upper half of the body including hand, fingers and face with simultaneous diminution of pain. These two cases were suggestive of the role of lemniscus medialis in pain modulation. Blockade of the lemniscus medialis elicited, and its facilitation inhibited the pain. Lemniscal and extralemniscal (spinothalamic) system have been proven to be intermingled in the thalamic and suprathalamic levels. Though both of the systems might be involved in the manifestation of central pain including our present ten cases, it was discussed and postulated that the facilitation of the lemniscal system might inhibit the activity of spinothalamic system, thus resulting in pain relief.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

[Surgical pain therapy in inoperable metastatic epigastric tumor by bilateral thoracoscopic splanchnicectomy].

Patients with unresectable supramesenteric malignancies often suffer from intractable pain. The supramesenteric viscera are supplied by the greater splanchnic nerve. Surgical options to effectively denervate the supramesenteric area are coeliac ganglionectomy, open or percutaneous coeliac ganglion block or transhiatal bilateral splanchnicotomy. The surgical minimally invasive alternative is thoracoscopic splanchnicectomy. In 7 patients pain was scored on a scale from 1 (no pain) to 10 (maximal pain) before and after surgery and weekly thereafter. Five bilateral and 2 left-sided thoracoscopic splanchnicectomies were performed. Operation time was 17 +/- 3 min for each side. The mean pain score dropped from preoperatively (under morphine sulphate medication) 7.4 +/- 0.6 to 4.9 (2.5-8.25) 1 week postoperatively (p = 0.02) and to 4.9 (2.5-6.75) 7 weeks postoperatively (p = 0.02). The relief from back pain was immediate and complete, but abdominal pain tended to recur. Six of our 7 patients and their general practitioners rated the intervention as a success. Thoracoscopic splanchnicectomy affords excellent palliation in patients with unresectable supramesenteric tumour, offering reliable pain control.

Abdominal Neoplasms↗
PubMed1986

DREZ lesions for relief of pain related to spinal cord injury.

Fifty-six patients with intractable pain following a spinal cord injury were treated with dorsal root entry zone (DREZ) lesions. After a follow-up period ranging from 6 months to 6 years, 50% of patients had good pain relief. Certain pain syndromes tended to respond better to DREZ lesions than did others. Patients with pain extending caudally from the level of the injury and patients with unilateral pain were most likely to obtain pain relief from the procedure; diffuse pain and predominant sacral pain did not respond as well.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Non-endoscopic and endoscopic adhesiolysis in post-lumbar laminectomy syndrome: a one-year outcome study and cost effectiveness analysis.

Post lumbar laminectomy syndrome with its resultant chronic low back pain is estimated to occur in 20% to 50% of the patients. Among various procedures available, lysis of epidural adhesions is considered as one of the effective therapeutic modalities of management in these patients, and may be performed either non-endoscopically or endoscopically. This retrospective evaluation included 120 post lumbar laminectomy patients who underwent either non-endoscopic adhesiolysis (Group I) or endoscopic adhesiolysis (Group II) with 60 consecutive patients in each group. The quality of pain relief when greater than 50% was considered significant. Results showed all patients experienced significant relief following both procedures even though the number of patients experiencing significant relief decreased with both techniques over a time period. Overall relief with the first procedure (mean + SEM) was 12 + 3.2 weeks for Group I, and it was 20 + 2.9 weeks for Group II with significantly longer improvement in Group II than Group I. At one year follow up, the results showed that with repeat procedures, 72% in Group I and 40% in Group II experienced significant relief at 6 months, whereas at 12 months, it decreased to 52% in Group I and 22% in Group II, with a significantly greater number of patients experiencing relief at 6 months and 12 months in Group I, than Group II, even though Group I patients underwent a greater number of procedures. Cost effectiveness analysis showed Group I patients experiencing significant relief at a cost of $40 per week, with one year quality of life improvement for $2,080, whereas it was $135 per week improvement in Group II with a one year quality of life improvement at a cost of $7,020 with significant difference noted in cost effectiveness. In conclusion, non-endoscopic epidural adhesiolysis and administration of corticosteroids and hypertonic saline is a safe and cost effective procedure for relieving chronic intractable pain in post lumbar laminectomy patients who failed to respond to other modalities of treatment. Similarly, endoscopic adhesiolysis with the administration of corticosteroids is also a safe and possibly cost-effective technique for relief of chronic intractable pain failing to respond to other modalities of treatments.

Journal Article↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Rectus syndrome. Another cause of upper abdominal pain.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Rectus syndrome is somatic pain originating from the rectus abdominis musculature of the abdomen. However, pain with its associated somatovisceral symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and anorexia, is called pseudovisceral pain syndrome. It commonly mimics abdominal visceral pain and misleads medical practitioners into establishing a wrong diagnosis and giving inadequate pain management. Owing to its primary somatic origin, a regional rectus nerve block is an efficacious modality for use in differentiating the diagnosis and providing longlasting optimal pain relief. METHODS: Two cases, a 48-year-old man and a 41-year-old woman, were referred for the management of chronic upper abdominal pain consistent with chronic pancreatitis. They underwent rectus block, first to differentiate the diagnosis and then to relieve intractable pain problems with multidisciplinary pain management. RESULTS: Rectus block was performed successfully, and a diagnosis of rectus syndrome was established. These two patients responded to the rectus block immediately and received long-lasting pain relief after repeated rectus blocks in conjunction with pharmacologic and psychological treatment and physiotherapy. CONCLUSION: Rectus syndrome could be another potential cause of chronic intractable upper abdominal pain problem; rectus block provides a simple diagnostic and therapeutic technique to differentiate the diagnosis and treat it adequately.

Abdominal Muscles↗
PubMed2001

Metastatic spinal tumors.

Metastatic spinal tumors are the most common type of malignant lesions of the spine. Prompt diagnosis and identification of the primary malignancy is crucial to overall treatment. Numerous factors affect outcome including the nature of the primary cancer, the number of lesions, the presence of distant nonskeletal metastases, and the presence and/or severity of spinal cord compression. Initial management consists of chemotherapy, external beam radiotherapy, and external orthoses. Surgical intervention must be carefully considered in each case. Patients expected to live longer than 12 weeks should be considered as candidates for surgery. Indications for surgery include intractable pain, spinal cord compression, and the need for stabilization of impending pathological fractures. Whereas various surgical approaches have been advocated, anterior-approach surgery is the most accepted procedure for spinal cord decompression. Posterior approaches have also been used with success, but they require longer-length fusion. To obtain a stable fixation, the placement of instrumentation, in conjunction with judicious use of polymethylmethacrylate augmentation, is crucial. Preoperative embolization should be considered in patients with extremely vascular tumors such as renal cell carcinoma. Vertebroplasty, a newly described procedure in which the metastatic spinal lesions are treated via a percutaneous approach, may be indicated in selected cases of intractable pain caused by non- or minimally fractured vertebrae.

Adult↗
PubMed1975

Spinothalamic fibres, pain conduction and cordotomy.

Description of four cases of cordotomy for intractable pain in which autopsy could be performed. In two of the cases the lesion had been placed (unintentionally) in the posterior quadrant of the spinal cord with good results as to the abolishing of pain. It is concluded that the conduction of pain and temperature stimuli is not restricted to the anterolateral part of the spinal cord but that this conduction may also take place along fibres in the posterolateral quadrant. A further conclusion is that the results of cordotomy are related to the number of cut fibres.

Aged↗
PubMed1990

[Comparison of the results of therapy with vinblastine iontophoresis in post-diskectomy syndromes and other painful conditions].

The authors tested in 36 patients treatment of chronic intractable pain by percutaneous iontophoretic administration of an inhibitor of microtubular transport, Vinblastine inj. (G. Richter, Hungary). The groups comprised: (1) 16 patients with severe radicular pain after one or several operations of prolapsed lumbar intervertebral discs, (2) 20 patients with severe pain in the area of radicular dermal zones or dermal innervation areas of peripheral nerves. In every patient a minimum of 15 procedures were tried. Evaluation of the therapeutic effect was based on subjective data of the patient on the mitigation of pain in per cent, on the intensity of the current pain and the interference of the intensity of pain with daily activities. According to all criteria improvement was achieved in 31 subjects, i.e. in 86%. A favourable effect of treatment was observed after the 8th-10th administration. In the first group of patients clinically significant mitigation of algic symptoms was achieved in 69% of the treated subjects. In the second group a therapeutic effect was achieved in 90% of the patients. A marked difference between the two groups was found with respect to mitigation of the intensity of pain on completion of treatment. The mean mitigation of pain intensity in the first group was 24.1%, in the second group 47.7%. This difference is highly significant. With the exception of one female patient always a positive effect at the site of administration (beneath the anode) was observed.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Neurosurgical treatments of pain--a general survey.

Various ablative procedures for the relief of intractable pain have been briefly described in the previous sections. In Table 5, common types of pain and the procedures which the author thinks indicated for those types are listed. For the relief of cancer pain, if it is unilateral and involving the trunk and extremities, percutaneous cordotomy may be the procedure of choice. If cancer involves the head and neck or the body bilaterally, stereotaxic mesencephalotomy or stereotaxic posteromedial hypothalamotomy may be indicated. For deafferentation pain, dorsal root entry zone lesion, or if it involves the face, trigeminal spinal nucleotomy may be most suitable. Thalamic pain is difficult to treat. Stereotaxic thalamolaminotomy and/or vim-tomy may be worthwhile trying. Other central pain may be treated by thalamolaminotomy. Trigeminal neuralgia is best treated by microvascular decompression. If the patient's condition does not permit this rather major procedure, it can be treated by percutaneous thermocoagulation of the Gasserian ganglion or glycerol injection into the trigeminal cistern. Glossopharyngeal neuralgia is also effectively treated by microvascular decompression or by percutaneous thermocoagulation of the petrous ganlion. The neurosurgeon should always bear in mind that effects of ablative procedures may be temporary, and must adopt the best possible procedure for the patient according to his general conditions and his disease.

Central Nervous System↗
PubMed1997

Surgical treatment of postoperative deltoid origin disruption.

Although it is well recognized that deltoid disruption after shoulder surgery is associated with poor function, little information is available regarding results of surgical treatment for this problem. Twenty-four patients underwent direct repair or rotational deltoidplasty reconstruction of a detached muscle origin after shoulder surgery. The original surgical procedure was rotator cuff repair in 12, acromioplasty in four, and lateral acromionectomy with or without rotator cuff repair in eight. The average duration of symptoms before deltoid reconstruction was 17 months. The mean followup was 39 months (range, 13-84 months). Twelve patients reported moderate to severe pain, whereas 12 had minimal pain. Two patients required a shoulder fusion for intractable pain. Overall, one (4%) excellent, seven (29%) good, and 16 (67%) unsatisfactory results were observed. A poor outcome was associated with a prior lateral acromionectomy, involvement of the middle deltoid, a massive rotator cuff tear with weakness in external rotation, and a residual postoperative defect larger than 2 cm. In select cases, repair or deltoidplasty can improve function and pain.

Acromion↗
PubMed1997

Computerized tomography-guided percutaneous extralemniscal myelotomy.

Extralemniscal myelotomy (ELM) is a procedure performed at the cervicomedullary junction of the spinal cord in which the central cord is lesioned to treat intractable pain. The neurophysiological mechanism of pain relief after ELM remains unclear. The authors present a series of 14 patients with intractable cancer pain who were managed by CT-guided, percutaneous ELM. In six of the cases (42.8%), total pain relief was achieved; partial satisfactory pain relief was attained in four cases (28.5%), and no pain control was achieved in four cases (28.5%). No complications due to ELM were observed. The authors believe that ELM is a safe and effective procedure in the management of intractable cancer pain for selected cases; computerized tomography guidance is an essential part of the procedure to achieve morphological localization of the target in the cervicomedullary junction. More research is needed to understand the neurophysiological mechanism of pain relief after ELM and to standardize the lesion volume.

Journal Article↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Comparative efficacy of epidural, subarachnoid, and intracerebroventricular opioids in patients with pain due to cancer.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Although rarely used, intracerebroventricular opioid therapy (ICV) is an option for the control of intractable pain due to cancer when systemic treatments have failed. The aim of the present study is to use available data from published trials to compare ICV with the more common epidural (EP) and subarachnoid (SA) opioid treatments in an attempt to establish the utility and safety of ICV. METHODS: Because there are no published controlled trials comparing these routes of administration, the combined data from multiple uncontrolled trials were used, with differences between the treatments analyzed statistically. Trials assessing ICV (13 trials, 268 patients). EPI (29 trials, 909 patients) and SA (21 trials, 410 patients) in cancer patients were identified; data on analgesic efficacy, common pharmacologic side effects, and complications were then extracted and the accumulated incidence data analyzed. RESULTS: The findings (weighted means) indicated ICV to be at least as effective against pain as other neuraxial treatments, with 75% of ICV-treated patients obtaining excellent pain relief as compared with 72% of EPI- and 58% of SA-treated patients (not significant). The failure rate of both spinal treatments tended to be greater than that of ICV and was significantly higher in the case of EPI (P = .045). In general, persistent side effects appeared to be more of a problem with the spinal treatments, while transient symptoms occur more often with ICV. Persistent nausea, urinary retention, and pruritus all were more frequent with the two spinal treatments than with ICV, but transient nausea and respiratory depression occurred more often with ICV. Sedation and confusion appeared to occur more often with ICV than with spinal therapy, while constipation and headache were rarely encountered with ICV. There were no real differences in infectious complication rates among the three treatments (except for a lower rate of infection when an implanted pump was used), but technical problems such as catheter blockage, misplacement, or leakage tended to occur less often with ICV. CONCLUSIONS: Intracerebroventricular therapy appears to be at least as effective against pain as other neuraxial treatments. The ICV technique is the only fixed system that is associated with fewer technical problems than the use of simple percutaneous epidural catheters (difference 9%, standard error of the difference 3.4). The present state of evidence indicates that ICV is a successful treatment for patients with intractable cancer pain and compares well with spinal opioid treatments in terms of efficacy, side effects, and complications.

Analgesia, Epidural↗
PubMed2005

Sensorimotor retuning [corrected] in complex regional pain syndrome parallels pain reduction.

Patients with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and intractable pain showed a shrinkage of cortical maps on primary (SI) and secondary somatosensory cortex (SII) contralateral to the affected limb. This was paralleled by an impairment of the two-point discrimination thresholds. Behavioral treatment over 1 to 6 months consisting of graded sensorimotor retuning led to a persistent decrease in pain intensity, which was accompanied by a restoration of the impaired tactile discrimination and regaining of cortical map size in contralateral SI and SII. This suggests that the reversal of tactile impairment and cortical reorganization in CRPS is associated with a decrease in pain.

Behavior Therapy↗
PubMed1996

Results of surgical treatment of spinal thoracic and lumbar metastases.

The results of surgical treatment of vertebral metastases were evaluated from a retrospective review of a consecutive series of 100 patients, with special reference to anatomoclinical aspects and functional outcome. The primary tumour in most cases was lung, breast, or prostate; it was unknown in 11 cases. Diagnosis of the metastasis occurred 4-86 months after that of the primary tumour (lung metastasis: 4 months; breast metastasis: 86 months; prostatic metastasis: 22 months). Patients complained of vertebral pain in 96 cases and/or radicular pain in 43 cases. Intractable pain was observed in lung metastasis in particular. All patients received analgesics, and 57 received morphinics. Walking was impossible for 50 patients. Thirty-eight patients presented with neurologic deficit; neurologic status varied according to the primary tumour. Treatment included anterior surgery in 58 patients, posterior surgery in 33 patients, and combined surgery in 9 patients. Mean duration of hospitalisation was 12 days. No patient was admitted to the intensive care unit. Mean follow-up was 13.5 months. Eighty-nine patients were dead at follow-up, with an average survival of 10 months. Mean survival time was 7 months for patients with lung metastasis, 12 months for those with breast metastasis and 24 months for those with prostatic metastasis. Ten patients were still alive at follow-up (mean follow-up period 45 months, range 17-72 months). Analgesics were stopped for 62 patients following discharge from hospital. Morphinics had to be continued in seven patients. Thirty-five patients out of 50 (70%) recovered walking capacity. Neurologic status improved in 30 out of 38 patients. Although duration of survival was limited, surgery proved to be beneficial in providing a significant and early improvement in the functional status of more than 80% of patients. A precise evaluation of preoperative pain is necessary. Pain is dependent upon the bony lesion, the primary tumour, and the tumoral topography, which defines the surgical approach.

Analgesics↗
PubMed2006

Alteration of regional cerebral blood flow in patients with chronic pain--evaluation before and after epidural spinal cord stimulation.

BACKGROUND: Chronic pain is defined as intractable pain caused by abnormal pain transmission or impairment of the pain control system per se. Alteration of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) is known to occur under the presence of pain stimulation. Epidural spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is occasionally effective in relieving the symptom. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the current study is to investigate the alteration of rCBF in baseline condition and to find the association between the rCBF change and the efficacy of SCS in chronic pain. METHODS: A total of 18 patients underwent Tc-99m-HMPAO SPECT before and after SCS. Analysis with three-dimensional stereo-tactic surface projections (3D-SSP) with stereo-tactic extraction estimation (SEE) software was adopted to evaluate the rCBF. We assessed the extent score of the abnormal region in each segment (rate of the coordinates with a Z-value that exceeds three kinds of threshold value 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 in all coordinates within a segment). According to the therapeutic response defined by visual analogue scale, we categorized patients into two groups, the good responder (GR) group (n=12) and poor responder (PR) group (n=6). In the analysis, we compared the extent score in the following two conditions. (1) Comparison between the PR group and normal control group under both baseline condition and after SCS. (2) Comparison between the GR group and normal control group under both baseline condition and after SCS. RESULTS: (1) In the PR group, increased rCBF was observed in left thalamus, bilateral precuneus and bilateral cerebellum under the baseline condition. After SCS, the range of these increased rCBF areas localized but remained. Decrease of rCBF was noted in bilateral subcallosal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus (STG) and bilateral anterior cingulate gyrus (ACG). They localized after SCS, but remained. (2) In the GR group, increased rCBF areas were noted in bilateral precuneus and bilateral cerebellum under the baseline condition. After SCS, they localized in bilateral precuneus but those of bilateral cerebellum remained. Decreased rCBF area was noted in bilateral subcallosal gyrus, STG and bilateral ACG under the baseline. After SCS, they localized in bilateral subcallosal gyrus and bilateral STG. In contrast, they enlarged in bilateral ACG. CONCLUSION: Chronic pain patients demonstrated abnormal rCBF distribution on both baseline and post SCS conditions. Increased rCBF of thalamus and precuneus under both conditions in the PR group and decreased rCBF of ACG under post SCS conditions in the GR group were characteristic patterns. Tc-99m-HMPAO SPECT with 3D-SSP and SEE analysis is likely objective and effective in monitoring and evaluating therapeutic outcome by SCS in chronic pain. In addition, it provides information that is useful in the selection of SCS candidates.

Brain↗
PubMed1997

[Long-term follow-up after participation in an integrated group treatment program for patients with intractable musculoskeletal pain].

METHODS: Long-term outcome in terms of well-being, depression and ability to cope was evaluated by means of a mailed questionnaire up to 5 years after participation in an integrated group treatment program for chronic musculoskeletal pain (mostly back pain). Sixty-one completed questionnaires were available for analysis, representing 69% of all 89 participants. RESULTS: Comparison of responders and non-responders yielded no important differences. On the basis of their further need for treatment, their working ability and global rating of outcome, patients were divided into three groups: In 18 cases the situation had further improved, 33 were unchanged and 10 had worsened. Sociodemographic data and pain history did not differ among the three groups. Patients with a favorable outcome scored significantly lower than the rest of the patients on a symptom check list and showed the greatest decrease from pretreatment values (if available). They rated themselves significantly higher on the two-dimensional health locus of control scale and were aware of significantly more factors influencing their pain than were the unimproved (unchanged or worsened) patients. Cognitive-behavioral strategies had been continued long-term by 83.6% of the patients and were rated most helpful. Physical training and at least one relaxation technique were continued in 80.3% of the patients, with a slightly lower rating of helpfulness. Improved patients gave generally higher ratings for helpfulness and applied these strategies also to problems other than pain (e.g. anxiety). CONCLUSIONS: The majority of patients maintained at least two of the self-help strategies over many years and seem to profit from their use. Positive long-term effects on well-being were visible in 30% of all participants, and these were clearly more orientated towards self-control than the unimproved subgroups.

English Abstract↗