Motor corticospinal excitability abnormalities differ between distinct chronic low back pain syndromes.

Objectives: It is not known whether cortical plastic changes reported in low-back pain (LBP) are present in all etiologies of LBP. Here we report on the assessment of patients with three LBP conditions: non-specific-LBP (ns-LBP), failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS), and sciatica (Sc).

Methods: Patients underwent a standardized assessment of clinical pain, conditioned pain modulation (CPM), and measures of motor evoked potential (MEPs)-based motor corticospinal excitability (CE) by transcranial magnetic stimulation, including short interval intracortical inhibition (SICI), and intracortical facilitation (ICF).

Psychometric validation of the Portuguese version of the Neuropathic Pain Symptoms Inventory.

Background: It has been shown that different symptoms or symptom combinations of neuropathic pain (NeP) may correspond to different mechanistic backgrounds and respond differently to treatment. The Neuropathic Pain Symptom Inventory (NPSI) is able to detect distinct clusters of symptoms (i.e.

Failed back surgery pain syndrome: therapeutic approach descriptive study in 56 patients.

Objective: The authors show the clinical evaluation and follow-up results in 56 patients diagnosed with a failed back surgery pain syndrome.

Methods: Descriptive and prospective study conducted over a one-year period. In this study, 56 patients with a failed back surgery pain syndrome were assessed in our facility.