Recommendations to standardize patients' follow-up after interventional procedures in chronic pain treatment: A Delphi study.

Objective: To determine, using the Delphi method, standardized recommendations for the follow-up of patients undergoing an interventional procedure for the treatment of chronic pain in Spain.

Methods: First, a systematic literature review was performed to identify the literature on the management of patients with chronic pain undergoing interventional techniques; subsequently, a two-round Delphi survey with 108 questions was conducted. The questionnaire was validated by a Scientific Committee (5 experts) and sent to 47 experts specialized in chronic pain.

Dopaminergic modulation of neuropathic pain: analgesia in rats by a D2-type receptor agonist.

Experimental studies have shown that dopaminergic mechanisms can modulate both nociception and chronic pain perception, but such property is not exploited pharmacologically at the clinical level. We have previously shown that levodopa produces D2-receptor-mediated antiallodynic effects in rats with peripheral mononeuropathy. Here, we test the effects of a D2-type receptor (D2R) agonist, quinpirole, on neuropathic pain in rats.

A modified Delphi survey on the signs and symptoms of low back pain: indicators for an interventional management approach.

Background: Low back pain (LBP) symptoms and signs are nonspecific. If required, diagnostic blocks may find the source of pain, but indicators of suspect diagnosis must be defined to identify anatomical targets.

Objective: To reach a consensus from an expert panel on the indicators for the most common causes of LBP.

Levodopa analgesia in experimental neuropathic pain.

Levodopa has been shown to produce analgesia in various clinical and experimental settings, but its use for chronic pain treatment has not been established. We have undertaken a study of the antiallodynic actions of levodopa in a rat model of painful mononeuropathy. When administered systemically, levodopa produced a decrease in tactile and cold allodynia lasting at least 3h.

A procedure for direct lumbar puncture in rats.

We have set out to establish a fast, simple and innocuous method for repeatedly obtaining cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from rats that are undergoing different experimental procedures or suffering pathological conditions. Here, we report a method that has been optimized to repeatedly collect 30-50 microl of CSF in rats by direct lumbar puncture using a procedure that generally takes 15-20 min to perform and presents very little hazard to the animal. The rats are anaesthetized with isofluorane and placed on a board in such a way that the spine is curved at the level of the L3-L5 vertebrae.