Low-dose mesenchymal stem cell therapy for discogenic pain: safety and efficacy results from a 1-year feasibility study.

Aim: To evaluate safety and efficacy of low dose autologous adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADMSCs) for treatment of disc degeneration resulting in low back pain (LBP).

Methods: Nine participants with chronic LBP originating from single-level lumbar disc disease underwent intradiscal injection of 10 million ADMSCs with optional repetition after 6 months.

Results: No unexpected or serious adverse events were recorded.

Dorsal Root Ganglion Stimulation Is Paresthesia-Independent: A Retrospective Study.

Introduction: Neuromodulation is an important tool for achieving pain relief in otherwise-intractable neuropathic pain conditions. Dorsal root ganglion (DRG) stimulation, in which primary sensory neurons are stimulated prior to their entry into the spinal canal, provides treatment with high levels of dermatomal specificity and can provide advantages compared to conventional spinal cord stimulation. Although DRG stimulation can produce perceptible paresthesias, many patients operate their systems at subthreshold amplitudes that do not elicit this sensation.

New Therapy for Refractory Chronic Mechanical Low Back Pain-Restorative Neurostimulation to Activate the Lumbar Multifidus: One Year Results of a Prospective Multicenter Clinical Trial.

Objectives: The purpose of the international multicenter prospective single arm clinical trial was to evaluate restorative neurostimulation eliciting episodic contraction of the lumbar multifidus for treatment of chronic mechanical low back pain (CMLBP) in patients who have failed conventional therapy and are not candidates for surgery or spinal cord stimulation (SCS).

Materials And Methods: Fifty-three subjects were implanted with a neurostimulator (ReActiv8, Mainstay Medical Limited, Dublin, Ireland). Leads were positioned bilaterally with electrodes close to the medial branch of the L2 dorsal ramus nerve.

Peripheral Nerve Field Stimulation Therapy for Patients With Thoracic Pain: A Prospective Study.

Objective: Relative to the number of patients suffering chronic lumbar and cervical pain, fewer patients suffer persistent thoracic pain. Consequently there is less literature, with smaller sample sizes, reporting treatment of this cohort. Here, we assess peripheral nerve field stimulation (PNfS) as a potential treatment for chronic thoracic pain.

Peripheral nerve field stimulation for chronic headache: 60 cases and long-term follow-up.

Objective: The objective of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of peripheral nerve field stimulation (PNFS) for the treatment of chronic headache conditions.

Materials And Methods: For more than a four-year period, 83 patients underwent a trial of a PNFS system targeting the nerve regions including occipital and supraorbital and infraorbital nerves, which best corresponded with their area of head pain. Sixty patients reported a successful trial and underwent a subsequent implant of the PNFS system.

Peripheral nerve field stimulation for chronic pain: 100 cases and review of the literature.

Objective: To evaluate the clinical outcomes of 100 consecutive patients receiving peripheral nerve field stimulation (PNFS) for the treatment of chronic intractable pain.

Design: Prospective, observational study.

Setting: A private interventional pain specialty referral practice.

Peripheral nerve stimulation: a treatment for chronic low back pain and failed back surgery syndrome?

Objective.  This study aims to evaluate the usefulness of peripheral nerve stimulation as a treatment option for patients with chronic low back pain. Materials and Methods.

Peripheral nerve field stimulation: is age an indicator of outcome?

Objective.  This study aims to assess peripheral nerve field stimulation as a treatment option for chronic pain and test for indicators of outcome. Materials and Methods.

The incidence of intravascular penetration in medial branch blocks: cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spines.

Study Design: Clinical observational study.

Objective: To quantify the incidence of inadvertent intravascular injections in spinal medial branch blocks in a clinical setting.

Summary Of Background Data: Previous research established the rate of inadvertent intravascular injection in lumbar medial branch blocks at 8%.

Interventions in chronic low back pain.

Background: Chronic low back pain presents a major challenge for general practitioners and is a significant drain on community resources. Patients often feel frustrated by modern medicine's apparent failure to validate their symptoms with a specific diagnosis and management plan.

Objective: This article presents an evidence based guide to current interventions, including an algorithm for the interventional diagnostic workup of low back pain that has persisted beyond 3 months.