The osteoarthritis knee model: psychophysical characteristics and putative outcomes.

Unlabelled: The knee osteoarthritis (KOA) model is a convenient and coherent archetype that is frequently used in pharmaceutical trials of drugs with analgesic and/or anti-inflammatory properties; yet, little is known about its specific pathophysiology. The presumed chronic inflammatory etiology of osteoarthritis suggests that nociceptive processes and neurogenic inflammation predominate in this condition. However, most chronic pain conditions are associated with changes in peripheral and central processing.

Interventional procedures for cervical pain.

Percutaneous interventional spinal procedures have become ubiquitous in the management of cervical pain syndromes. This article reviews the indications, contraindications, patient selection, and potential complications of epidural injections, zygapophyseal joint and medial branch nerve injections, spinal cord stimulation, and radiofrequency neurotomy.

The effect of modafinil on self-esteem in spinal cord injury patients: a report of 2 cases and review of the literature.

We report on 2 cases of the effect of modafinil on the self-esteem of patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). The first patient was a 33-year-old man with history of polysubstance abuse and a C6 American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) grade A injury, who presented for follow-up to the outpatient rehabilitation clinic for depression, decreased motivation, and lowered self-esteem. The patient had tried a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) without success, and reported increasing social and legal stressors.