The effect of sedation on the accuracy and treatment outcomes for diagnostic injections: a randomized, controlled, crossover study.

Background And Objective: Diagnostic injections are used to diagnose myriad pain conditions, but are characterized by a high false-positive rate. One potential cause of inaccurate diagnostic blocks is the use of sedation. We sought to determine the effect of sedation on the validity of diagnostic injections.

Factors associated with outcome after superior hypogastric plexus neurolysis in cancer patients.

Objective: Superior hypogastric plexus neurolysis (SHP-N) has been shown in uncontrolled studies to provide intermediate-term benefit in a majority of patients with pain secondary to genitourinary, gynecologic, and colorectal cancers. The purpose of this is to determine factors associated with treatment outcome.

Materials And Methods: Patients who underwent SHP-N after a positive prognostic block were identified based on diagnostic classification and procedural codes from databases at 2 large teaching hospitals.

Spinal cord stimulation for severe degenerative joint disease of the shoulder in a patient with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a new indication?

Approximately 70% of the United States population older than 65 yr has osteoarthritis. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is also more prevalent in the elderly, and thus, the likelihood of having elderly patients with osteoarthritis and COPD in clinical settings is significant. COPD may preclude the optimum use of opioids, thus the potential to provide pain control with nonpharmacological treatment modalities becomes a valuable option.