Case report: safety and efficacy of lidocaine infusion for the treatment of intractable zoster-associated neuralgia in solid organ transplant recipients.

Introduction: Solid organ transplant recipients are at high risk for developing severe zoster-associated neuralgia, and the pharmaceutic therapies of pain management for these patients with limited organ function are challenging. Intravenous lidocaine infusion showed positive analgesic effects and is used for the management of neuropathic pain. This case series reports the safety and effectiveness of intravenous lidocaine infusion in the treatment of intractable zoster-associated neuralgia in solid organ transplant recipients.

Predictors of a Favorable Response to Transforaminal Epidural Steroid Injections for Lumbar Radiculopathy in the Elderly.

Background: The efficacy and its associated predictors of transforaminal epidural steroid injection (TFESI) in elderly patients with lumbar radiculopathy are unknown.

Objective: The purpose of this retrospective study was to identify the efficacy of TFESI in elderly patients with lumbar radiculopathy and its associated predictors of long-term outcomes.

Study Design: Retrospective study.

TET1 overexpression attenuates paclitaxel-induced neuropathic pain through rescuing K1.1 expression in primary sensory neurons of male rats.

Aims: Paclitaxel-induced downregulation of two-pore domain K+ channel 1.1 (K1.1) caused by increasing DNA methylation within its gene promoter in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) contributes to neuropathic pain.

Effect of Pharmacological Inhibition of Fat-Mass and Obesity-Associated Protein on Nerve Trauma-Induced Pain Hypersensitivities.

Genetic knockout or knockdown of fat-mass and obesity-associated protein (FTO), a demethylase that participates in RNA N-methyladenosine modification in injured dorsal root ganglion (DRG), has been demonstrated to alleviate nerve trauma-induced nociceptive hypersensitivities. However, these genetic strategies are still impractical in clinical neuropathic pain management. The present study sought to examine the effect of intrathecal administration of two specific FTO inhibitors, meclofenamic acid (MA) and N-CDPCB, on the development and maintenance of nociceptive hypersensitivities caused by unilateral L5 spinal nerve ligation (SNL) in rats.

Nerve trauma-caused downregulation of opioid receptors in primary afferent neurons: Molecular mechanisms and potential managements.

Neuropathic pain is the most common clinical disorder destroying the quality of patient life and leading to a marked economic and social burden. Opioids are still last option for pharmacological treatment of this disorder, but their antinociceptive effects are limited in part due to the downregulation of opioid receptors in the primary afferent neurons after peripheral nerve trauma. How this downregulation occurs is not completely understood, but recent studies have demonstrated that peripheral nerve trauma drives the alterations in epigenetic modifications (including DNA methylation, histone methylation and mciroRNAs), expression of transcription factors, post-transcriptional modifications (e.

Eukaryotic initiation factor 4 gamma 2 contributes to neuropathic pain through down-regulation of Kv1.2 and the mu opioid receptor in mouse primary sensory neurones.

Background: Nerve injury-induced changes in gene expression in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) contribute to neuropathic pain genesis. Eukaryotic initiation factor 4 gamma 2 (eIF4G2) is a general repressor of cap-dependent mRNA translation. Whether DRG eIF4G2 participates in nerve injury-induced alternations in gene expression and nociceptive hypersensitivity is unknown.

Altered Cortical Reorganization and Brain Functional Connectivity in Phantom Limb Pain: A Functional MRI Study.

Objectives: Functional neuroimaging studies have shown that amputees have altered cortical reorganization and functional connectivity (FC). This study aimed to investigate whether patients with phantom limb pain (PLP) and PLP-free lower limb amputees exhibit changes in corresponding primary cortical motor area/somatosensory cortex (M1/S1) cortical reorganization and supplementary motor area (SMA) network FC. The association between functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) changes and clinical parameters is also explored.

CREB Participates in Paclitaxel-Induced Neuropathic Pain Genesis Through Transcriptional Activation of Dnmt3a in Primary Sensory Neurons.

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathic pain (CIPNP) often occurs in cancer patients treated with antineoplastic drugs. Therapeutic management of CIPNP is very limited, at least in part due to the largely unknown mechanisms that underlie CIPNP genesis. Here, we showed that systemic administration of the chemotherapeutic drug paclitaxel significantly and time-dependently increased the levels of cyclic AMP response element-binding protein (CREB) in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons.

The Trend of Labor Analgesia in the World and China: A Bibliometric Analysis of Publications in Recent 30 Years.

Purpose: Labor analgesia is part of the most important tasks an anesthesiologist needs to deal with. With the "two-child policy" in China, the number of parturients has increased significantly, labor analgesia more should be valued. There has been a tremendous change on labor analgesia research in China and around the world; however, broader trends in the prevalence and scope of labor analgesia research remain underexplored.

Ultrasound for predicting difficult airway in obstetric anesthesia: Protocol and methods for a prospective observational clinical study.

Background: Failed intubation and ventilation during cesarean deliveries are important causes of anesthetic-related maternal mortality. Due to the physiological changes in airway anatomy, parturient had higher incidences of difficult airway than non-obstetric population. Accurate airway assessment is the first step and the most important in airway management.

Gasserian ganglion injected with Adriamycin successfully relieves intractable trigeminal nerve postherpetic neuralgia for an elderly patient: A case report.

Rationale: Effective treatments for trigeminal nerve postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) are limited. Adriamycin (doxorubicin) has been applied to the treatment of neuropathic pain. This study reports a new treatment: Adriamycin injected to Gasserian ganglion for an elderly patient with the intractable trigeminal nerve PHN.

Pulsed radiofrequency of brachial plexus under ultrasound guidance for refractory stump pain: a case report.

The post-amputation (pain) syndrome, including stump pain, phantom limb sensation, and phantom limb pain is common but difficult to treat. Refractory stump pain in the syndrome is an extremely challenging and troublesome clinical condition. Patients respond poorly to drugs, nerve blocks, and other effective treatments like spinal cord stimulation and surgery.