Background: Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a leading cause of disability. Botulinum neurotoxin type A (BoNT-A) has strong anti-spasmodic and analgesic effects, suggesting that its local muscular injection can reduce CLBP compared to other therapies. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we investigated the efficacy and safety of BoNT-A on patients with CLBP.
Methods: We searched PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane, and Web of Science databases for studies comparing BoNT-A to other therapies in terms of functional improvement and pain improvement as measured by visual analog scale (VAS) and clinically significant improvement in pain (50% or greater reduction in VAS score). We employed trial sequential analysis (TSA) to confirm the findings. The GRADE approach was employed to assess the overall quality of the evidence.
Results: The search yielded nine studies, seven randomised clinical trials (RCTs), and two prospective observational studies. Compared to the control, BoNT-A increased the incidence of clinically significant improvement in pain (RR = 4.82, 95% CI (3.00, 7.76), p < 0.00001) and functional improvement (RR = 3.81, 95% CI (2.40, 6.04), p < 0.00001) (low-certainty evidence), and reduced VAS score (MD = -1.62, 95% CI (-3.13, -0.11), p = 0.04) (very low-certainty evidence). Subgroup analysis showed that BoNT-A is effective against normal saline (moderate-certainty evidence), and it was comparable to steroids and local anaesthetics (very low-certainty evidence). TSA confirmed the findings regarding clinical improvement in pain and functional improvement.
Conclusion: BoNT-A is a tolerable and effective treatment for CLBP with a longer duration of action. Future high-quality studies are needed to confirm our findings.
Significance: This paper provides good evidence that BoNT-A may be employed in patients suffering from resistant chronic low back pain not responding to normal saline injection due to its higher efficacy and longer duration of action. Compared to steroids and local anaesthetics injections, there is not enough data to draw a firm conclusion and future studies are needed.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ejp.4796 | DOI Listing |
JMIR Res Protoc
March 2025
Paseo de los Encomendadores, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Burgos, Burgos, Spain.
Background: Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in women worldwide. Treatments for this disease often result in side effects such as pain, fatigue, loss of muscle mass, and reduced quality of life. Physical exercise has been shown to effectively mitigate these side effects and improve the quality of life in patients with breast cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPain Med
March 2025
Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Université de Montréal, 2900 Boul. Edouard-Montpetit, Montréal, Québec, H3T 1J4, Canada.
Design: Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a popular treatment option in managing chronic tendinopathies, although the literature is inconsistent, mainly because of significant heterogeneity in patient populations. Patients who failed conservative management may respond differently than those who have not undergone first-line treatment. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the efficacy of PRP injections in reducing pain and improving function in patients with chronic tendinopathy who failed conservative treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Immunol
February 2025
Orthopedics Department, Central Hospital of Ezhou, Ezhou, China.
Diabetic nephropathy is a severe chronic complication characterized by cytotoxicity, inflammation, and fibrosis, ultimately leading to renal failure. This study systematically investigated the effects of the PARP1 inhibitor PJ-34 on high glucose-induced cytotoxicity, inflammation, and fibrosis in HK-2 cells, as well as its improvement on neuropathic pain response and transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) expression in a type 1 diabetes mellitus diabetic nephropathy mouse model. Through cellular and animal experiments, we observed that PJ-34 significantly enhanced the proliferative capacity of cells damaged by high glucose, reduced apoptosis, and decreased the release of proinflammatory factors TGFα, interleukin-6, and interleukin-1β.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To assess if implementing interventions to effectively manage preoperative chronic moderate to severe shoulder pain in patients undergoing rotator cuff repair (RCR) can improve shoulder surgery outcomes.
Methods: A systematic review was conducted following the PRISMA and SIGN guidelines. Randomized clinical trials (RCT), metanalysis, systematic revisions and cohort studies in Spanish/English, published within the last 10 years, evaluating interventions to control preoperative chronic moderate to severe shoulder pain in patients undergoing RCR and their impact in postoperative shoulder outcomes were included.
J Am Acad Orthop Surg
March 2025
From the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, MedStar Union Memorial Hospital, Baltimore, MD (Zhang and Murthi), and the Department of Anesthesiology, St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, Hartford, CT (Sinha).
As arthroscopic and open shoulder surgery is increasingly performed on an outpatient basis, optimal and prolonged pain control is becoming more important while minimizing associated adverse effects. Traditional analgesic strategies relying on opioid and nonopioid medications provide inadequate pain control and are associated with undesirable adverse effects, such as opioid-related adverse effects (postoperative nausea and vomiting, respiratory depression, sedation), gastric lining irritation, and renal and hepatic adverse effects. Advances in ultrasonography-guided regional anesthesia have made placement of interscalene brachial plexus nerve blocks more reliable and precise and aided development of novel phrenic nerve-sparing peripheral nerve block techniques that decrease the risk of diaphragmatic paresis and dyspnea.
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