Stellate ganglion block as an early intervention in sympathetically maintained headache and orofacial pain caused by temporal arteritis.

Introduction: We report a case of temporal arteritis with a sympathetic component in the orofacial region, which responded to stellate ganglion blocks (SGBs).

Case: An 81-year-old woman with limited mouth opening and pain upon chewing was referred to the Orofacial Pain Clinic at Nihon University Dental Hospital. The patient also presented with blurred vision and a burning sensation on the right side of her face.

Hemicrania continua in a patient with concomitant dental disease.

Background: There are nonodontogenic headache disorders that mimic dental pain. One such headache disorder is hemicrania continua (HC). HC is a primary headache syndrome characterized by a continuous, unilateral headache that is completely responsive to indomethacin.

A possible case of complex regional pain syndrome in the orofacial region.

Objective: To present a case of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) type II with sympathetic dysfunction and trophic changes in the orofacial region, which was partially responsive to intravenous ketamine.

Patient: The patient was a 68-year-old man who suffered from inveterate pain with trophic changes of the right face and tongue and vasomotor dysfunction on the right side of the face after ipsilateral trigeminal nerve block. Allodynia and hyperalgesia were observed on the affected side of the face.

Trigeminal neuralgia due to vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia: three case reports.

We report here 3 cases of trigeminal neuralgia (TN) due to vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia (VBD) and discuss the clinician's role in such cases. All cases presented at our clinic with paroxysmal, electric shock-like pain over their maxillary or mandibular gingiva. To confirm a diagnosis of TN, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) were performed, and contact of the trigeminal nerve with a tortuous vertebrobasilar artery (VBA) was detected.

Topical capsaicin application causes cold hypersensitivity in awake monkeys.

Recent animal studies have demonstrated that many trigeminal ganglion neurons co-express TRPV1 and TRPA1 receptors following peripheral inflammation. In the present study, we examined whether cold receptors were sensitized by capsaicin in awake monkeys. Two monkeys were trained to detect a change in cold stimulus temperature (30 degrees C to 0.

Frequency-dependent ERK phosphorylation in spinal neurons by electric stimulation of the sciatic nerve and the role in electrophysiological activity.

The phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (pERK) in DRG and dorsal horn neurons is induced by the C-fiber electrical stimulation to the peripheral nerve. The present study was designed to investigate the expression and modulation of pERK in the rat dorsal horn neurons produced by repetitive electrical stimulation, and its involvement in the electrophysiological activity of dorsal horn neurons. Electrical stimulation of C-fiber intensity at different frequencies was applied to the sciatic nerve; the stimuli-induced pERK expression and the activity in dorsal horn neurons were studied by immunohistochemistry and extracellular recording, respectively.

Anterior cingulate cortical neuronal activity during perception of noxious thermal stimuli in monkeys.

It has been reported that the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) has a variety of functions relating to pain as well as pain perception. However, the underlying mechanisms for those functions remain unclear. To elucidate the functional role of the ACC in pain perception and pain-related functions such as attention to pain and escape from pain, single neuronal activity was recorded from the ACC, and the behavioral correlates of this neuronal activity was studied.

Effect of chronic inflammation on dorsal horn nociceptive neurons in aged rats.

To elucidate the effect of chronic inflammation on spinal nociceptive neurons in the elderly, we compared nocifensive behavior, peripheral inflammatory responses, and spinal dorsal horn neuronal activities between the aged (29-34 mo) and adult (7-12 mo) male rats after injection of complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) into the hind paw. Aged rats exhibited a significantly lower mechanical paw withdrawal threshold before inflammation. However, after CFA injection mechanical allodynia developed in both adult and aged rats after CFA injection.