Publications by authors named "B Gustorff"

Objective: This study offers a retrospective assessment of a single-center experience using cerebrospinal fluid catheters to reduce the risk of perioperative spinal cord injury in patients undergoing single-staged complex endovascular juxtarenal or thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm repair.

Results: A total of 97 patients were included. On average, 70.

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Background and aims Peripheral neuropathic pain (PNeP) is a chronic and disabling condition for which no predictors of response to treatment have yet been identified. Clinical studies show that while many patients with PNeP respond positively to treatment with the capsaicin 8% patch, others do not. This study used quantitative sensory testing (QST) to determine whether any patient characteristics can predict response to treatment with the capsaicin 8% patch.

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Background and purpose The UV-B model is an established pain model of different types of hyperalgesia in animal and human pain research. Beside the skin region of the sunburn in human volunteers pinprick hyperalgesia has been described in a large zone of non-inflamed skin adjacent to the sunburn. However, there are opposing results on the existence of pinprick hyperalgesia and most notably a controversial discussion is still on-going whether this mechanical hyperalgesia in the undamaged tissue adjacent to and at some distance from the site of inflammation is of peripheral or central origin.

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Article Synopsis
  • The use of inactive placebos in pain trials is discouraged due to the side effects of certain painkillers, and benzodiazepines like midazolam are used as active placebos despite unverified effects on pain assessment.
  • In a study involving 24 healthy volunteers, midazolam did not significantly reduce pain in contact heat or electrical tests compared to a saline placebo, whereas fentanyl showed strong analgesic effects in all tested models.
  • The results indicate that midazolam can effectively serve as an active placebo in pain trials, and the testing methods used were efficient for evaluating new analgesic compounds.
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Article Synopsis
  • Mechanism-based therapy for chronic pain is urgently needed, and recent research suggests that remifentanil may play a key role.
  • An exploratory study treated patients with chronic post-herpetic pain using a high-dose remifentanil infusion, resulting in significant pain reduction.
  • Among the 20 patients, 11 showed a response with at least a 30% reduction in pain, highlighting the potential for remifentanil to help reverse chronic pain mechanisms.
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