Non-invasive stimulation techniques to relieve abdominal/pelvic pain: Is more always better?

Chronic abdominal and pelvic pain is a common condition that has significant impact on quality of life, and causes billions of dollars in direct and indirect costs. Emerging data suggest that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), alone or in combination with transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), could be a promising therapeutic avenue to reduce chronic pain. The encouraging results coming from these studies prompted us to try combining TENS and tDCS in 4 of our patients who suffered from chronic abdominal/pelvic pain and to compare the effect with 5 other patients who received TENS alone.

Comparing pain modulation and autonomic responses in fibromyalgia and irritable bowel syndrome patients.

Objectives: Past studies confirm that patients with fibromyalgia (FM) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) show similar pain processing dysfunctions, such as reduced pain inhibition and aberrant autonomic nervous system (ANS) responses. However, patients with FM and IBS have rarely been investigated in the same study. The aim of the present study, therefore, was to compare descending pain inhibition, pain sensitivity, and ANS reactivity to pain in FM, IBS, and healthy controls (HC).

[Global approach to chronic pelvic and perineal pain: from the concept of organ pain to that of dysfunction of visceral pain regulation systems].

Objective: Analysis of complex pelvic and perineal pain.

Material And Methods: Review of the literature concerning the various types of functional pelvic pain.

Results: Various forms of pelvic pain are frequently associated: painful bladder syndrome (interstitial cystitis), irritable bowel syndrome, endometriosis pain, vulvodynia, chronic pelvic pain syndrome (chronic prostatitis).

Effect of dyssynergic defecation during pregnancy on third- and fourth-degree tear during a first vaginal delivery: a case-control study.

Objective: Determine whether dyssynergic defecation is a risk factor for third- or fourth-degree tear during a first vaginal delivery.

Study Design: A retrospective case-control study was conducted on 549 primiparous women. The case group (n = 140) sustained an anal sphincter tear and the control group (n = 409) had a perineal laceration lower or equal to a second-degree tear.

[Evaluation of the Global Abdominal Method (ABDO-MG) in the treatment of urinary incontinence].

Aims Of Study: Assessment of the Abdominal Global Method (ABDO-MG) in the treatment of stress urinary incontinence or mixed incontinence with stress predominance in women.

Methods: Thirty patients with clinically and urodynamically proven genuine stress incontinence or mixed incontinence with stress predominance were enrolled. Patients had 4 weeks of ABDO-MG technique under supervision and a home unit to do their exercises, then 8 weeks of home exercises without home unit or supervision.

Giant liposarcoma of the esophagus.

Liposarcomas of the gastrointestinal tract are exceedingly rare. Only nine cases of esophageal involvement have been described. A 68-year-old woman presented with an episode of vomiting followed by extrusion of a polypoid mass from the mouth.

Standardization of a simplified scintigraphic methodology for the assessment of gastric emptying in a multicenter setting.

Objective: Scintigraphy remains the gold standard to study gastric emptying. The technique is onerous and normal values vary between centers. Standardized protocols, although desirable, are not presently available.

Colonic transit time in patients with myelomeningocele.

To evaluate colonic motility in patients with myelomeningocele, the transit time of radiopaque markers was studied in 22 patients with myelomeningocele and 22 age and sex matched controls. Mean colonic transit time was significantly longer in patients than in controls (103.2 +/- 49 h versus 23.

Prevalence of sexual abuse among patients with functional disorders of the lower gastrointestinal tract.

To evaluate the links between gastrointestinal disorders and sexual abuse, we asked 344 patients consulting in a specialized tertiary care university hospital or a gastroenterologist in private practice, if they had been sexually abused. Forty per cent of patients suffering from lower functional digestive disorder gave a history of having been victims of sexual abuse in contrast to only 10% of patients with organic diseases (P < 0.0003).

Spontaneous double-barrelled esophagus. Report of two cases and review of the literature.

We report two patients who suffered spontaneous dissection of the esophagus, the so-called double-barrelled esophagus. We review the literature about this unusual lesion to define its clinical picture, its possible causes, and several treatment approaches.

Constipation with colonic inertia. A manifestation of systemic disease?

Transit of radiopaque markers was delayed in the ascending colon of 51 females and 3 males treated for severe idiopathic constipation. Onset of symptoms was between age 10 and 20 in more than half of the patients. Eighteen percent had previously undergone unnecessary laparotomy for large bowel pseudoobstruction.

Urorectodynamics in patients with colonic inertia.

Sixteen female patients with colonic inertia and 12 control women underwent manometric evaluation of their bladder and rectal cavities. After subcutaneous injection of 0.035 mg.

Small erythematous mucosal plaques: an endoscopic sign of Crohn's disease.

A non-ulcerated granulomatous lesion of the large bowel mucosa has been found in 11 patients, nine of whom already had or eventually developed classical features of Crohn's disease. These lesions, which are multiple, consist of small well-circumscribed raised erythematous plaques surrounded by normal mucosa. At biopsy there is focal haemorrhage of the lamina propria, rupture of the crypts, release of mucus, and frank granulomatous reaction with giant cell formation.