A 24% Decline in the Utilization of Epidural Procedure Visits for Chronic Spinal Pain Management in the Medicare Population from 2019 to 2022: Updated Analysis of the Effect of Multiple Factors.

Background: The analysis of epidural procedure utilization has revealed several notable trends over recent years. Utilization increased significantly until 2004, then rose minimally until 2011, followed by gradual declines up to 2019 in the Medicare population. The COVID-19 pandemic led to a marked 19% decline in usage from 2019 to 2020.

Escalating Growth to Rapid Decline of Utilization Patterns of Facet Joint Interventions in Managing Spinal Pain in the Medicare Population: Updated Analysis of the Effect of Multiple Factors from 2000 To 2022.

Background: The use of facet joint interventions for spinal pain management experienced rapid growth between 2000 and 2010, with an annual increase of 14.2%. However, this trend slowed significantly from 2010 to 2019, with a reduced growth rate of just 2.

Exponential Decline of 28.9% in Utilization of Interventional Pain Management Techniques Among Medicare Beneficiaries From 2019 to 2022: Updated Analysis on the Ongoing Effects of COVID-19, Economic Decline, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and Medical Policies.

Background: Numerous studies have highlighted the escalating costs associated with managing low back and neck pain, as well as other musculoskeletal disorders. In the past, there was a notable increase in the use of interventional techniques to address these disorders. However, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted various chronic pain treatment approaches, including interventional procedures and opioid use, following a broader trend of reduced healthcare services.

Comprehensive Evidence-Based Guidelines for Implantable Peripheral Nerve Stimulation (PNS) in the Management of Chronic Pain: From the American Society Of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP).

Background: Peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) has been used for over 50 years to treat chronic pain by delivering electrical pulses through small electrodes placed near targeted peripheral nerves those outside the brain and spinal cord. Early PNS systems often required invasive neurosurgical procedures. However, since 2015, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved percutaneously implanted PNS leads and neurostimulators  offering a much less invasive, non-opioid option for managing recalcitrant chronic pain.

Perioperative Management of Antiplatelet and Anticoagulant Therapy in Patients Undergoing Interventional Techniques: 2024 Updated Guidelines from the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP).

Background: The frequency of performance of interventional techniques in chronic pain patients receiving anticoagulant and antiplatelet therapy continues to increase. Understanding the importance of continuing chronic anticoagulant therapy, the need for interventional techniques, and determining the duration and discontinuation or temporary suspension of anticoagulation is crucial to avoiding devastating complications, primarily when neuraxial procedures are performed. Anticoagulants and antiplatelets target the clotting system, increasing the bleeding risk.

Triaging Interventional Pain Procedures During COVID-19 or Related Elective Surgery Restrictions: Evidence-Informed Guidance from the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP).

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the pain and suffering of chronic pain patients due to stoppage of "elective" interventional pain management and office visits across the United States. The reopening of America and restarting of interventional techniques and elective surgical procedures has started. Unfortunately, with resurgence in some states, restrictions are once again being imposed.

Systematic Review of the Diagnostic Accuracy and Therapeutic Effectiveness of Sacroiliac Joint Interventions.

Background: The sacroiliac joint is well known as a cause of low back and lower extremity pain. Prevalence estimates are 10% to 25% in patients with persistent axial low back pain without disc herniation, discogenic pain, or radiculitis based on multiple diagnostic studies and systematic reviews. However, at present there are no definitive management options for treating sacroiliac joint pain.

A Systematic Review and Best Evidence Synthesis of the Effectiveness of Therapeutic Facet Joint Interventions in Managing Chronic Spinal Pain.

Background: The therapeutic spinal facet joint interventions generally used for the treatment of axial spinal pain of facet joint origin are intraarticular facet joint injections, facet joint nerve blocks, and radiofrequency neurotomy. Despite interventional procedures being common as treatment strategies for facet joint pathology, there is a paucity of literature investigating these therapeutic approaches. Systematic reviews assessing the effectiveness of various therapeutic facet joint interventions have shown there to be variable evidence based on the region and the modality of treatment utilized.

A Best-Evidence Systematic Appraisal of the Diagnostic Accuracy and Utility of Facet (Zygapophysial) Joint Injections in Chronic Spinal Pain.

Background: Spinal zygapophysial, or facet, joints are a source of axial spinal pain and referred pain in the extremities. Conventional clinical features and other noninvasive diagnostic modalities are unreliable in diagnosing zygapophysial joint pain.

Study Design: A systematic review of the diagnostic accuracy of spinal facet joint nerve blocks.

Fluoroscopically Guided Diagnostic and Therapeutic Intra-Articular Sacroiliac Joint Injections: A Systematic Review.

Objective: To assess the validity of fluoroscopically guided diagnostic intra-articular injections of local anesthetic and effectiveness of intra-articular steroid injections in treating sacroiliac joint (SIJ) pain.

Design: Systematic review.

Interventions: Ten reviewers independently assessed 45 publications on diagnostic validity or effectiveness of fluoroscopically guided intra-articular SIJ injections.

What is the Role of Epidural Injections in the Treatment of Lumbar Discogenic Pain: A Systematic Review of Comparative Analysis with Fusion.

Background: Lumbar discogenic pain without pain mediated by a disc herniation, facet joints, or the sacroiliac joints, is common and often results in chronic, persistent pain and disability. After conservative treatment failure, injection therapy, such as an epidural injection, is frequently the next step considered in managing discogenic pain. The objective of this systematic review is to determine the efficacy of lumbar epidural injections in managing discogenic pain without radiculopathy, and compare this approach to lumbar fusion or disc arthroplasty surgery.

The mild® procedure: a systematic review of the current literature.

Objectives: This study's objective was to determine if the literature supports use of the Minimally Invasive Lumbar Decompression (mild®) procedure (Vertos Medical, Aliso Viejo, CA, USA) to reduce pain and improve function in patients with symptomatic degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis.

Design/settings: The study was designed as an evidence-based review of available data. Studies were identified from PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library.

Home-based aerobic conditioning for management of symptoms of fibromyalgia: a pilot study.

Objective: This pilot study was designed to evaluate the impact of a home-based aerobic conditioning program on symptoms of fibromyalgia and determine if changes in symptoms were related to quantitative changes in aerobic conditioning (VO(2) max).

Methods: Twenty-six sedentary individuals diagnosed with fibromyalgia syndrome participated in an individualized 12-week home-based aerobic exercise program with the goal of daily aerobic exercise of 30 minutes at 80% of estimated maximum heart rate. The aerobic conditioning took place in the participants' homes, outdoors, or at local fitness clubs at the discretion of the individual under the supervision of a physical therapist.

Oral opioid analgesics vs. spinal steroid injections in the treatment of low back pain syndromes.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the outcomes related to analgesia, function, mortality, and adverse effects of oral opioid analgesics and spinal steroid injections on low back pain syndromes.

Design: Databases including Medline, EMBASE, PubMed, and Cochrane Library were searched in September 2009 using combinations of terms related to spinal pain and its treatment. A systematic review was performed of randomized controlled trials that enrolled patients with low back pain syndromes and that evaluated patient outcomes after intervention using either oral opioids or spinal steroid injections.

The provocative lumbar facet joint.

Low back pain is the most common pain symptom experienced by American adults and is the second most common reason for primary care physician visits. There are many structures in the lumbar spine that can serve as pain generators and often the etiology of low back pain is multifactorial. However, the facet joint has been increasingly recognized as an important cause of low back pain.

Pain and prejudice.

Background: The primary objective of this pilot study is to understand the relationship between physicians' characteristics and physicians' management decisions about pain. The secondary aim is to understand how patient characteristics, including race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status (SES) may affect these treatment decisions in chronic low back pain.

Methods: We conducted a double-blinded randomized controlled study using a survey instrument.

Prevalence of chronic pain after traumatic brain injury: a systematic review.

Context: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that approximately 1.4 million US individuals sustain traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) per year. Previous reports suggest an association between TBI and chronic pain syndromes (eg, headache) thought to be more common in patients with mild TBI and in those who have sustained brain injury from violent rather than unintentional trauma.