Increased Anxiety-Like Behavior in the Acute Phase of a Preclinical Model of Periodontal Disease.

Periodontal disease (PD) is an infectious-inflammatory oral disease that is highly prevalent among adolescence and adulthood and can lead to chronic orofacial pain and be associated with anxiety, stress and depression. This study aimed to identify anxiety-like behaviors in the ligature-induced murine preclinical model of PD in different phases of the disease (i.e.

Pain Relief in CRPS-II after Spinal Cord and Motor Cortex Simultaneous Dual Stimulation.

Unlabelled: We describe a case of a 30-year-old woman who suffered a traumatic injury of the right brachial plexus, developing severe complex regional pain syndrome type II (CRPS-II). After clinical treatment failure, spinal cord stimulation (SCS) was indicated with initial positive pain control. However, after 2 years her pain progressively returned to almost baseline intensity before SCS.

Microendoscopy-guided percutaneous cordotomy for intractable pain: case series of 24 patients.

Objective: The aim of this study was to show that microendoscopic guidance using a double-channel technique could be safely applied during percutaneous cordotomy and provides clear real-time visualization of the spinal cord and surrounding structures during the entire procedure.

Methods: Twenty-four adult patients with intractable cancer pain were treated by microendoscopic-guided percutaneous radiofrequency (RF) cordotomy using the double-channel technique under local anesthesia. A percutaneous lateral puncture was performed initially under fluoroscopy guidance to localize the target.

Chronic spinal and oral morphine-induced neuroendocrine and metabolic changes in noncancer pain patients.

Objective: Interactions between opioid use and hormonal function are documented in the literature. However, it is unclear if therapeutic intrathecal opioid therapy can induce hormonal changes, compared to oral opioid therapy.

Methods: The authors studied hormone and metabolic changes in 22 women (18-60 years) and 38 men (18-45 years) who were referred to a pain center.

Effects of ozone applied by spinal endoscopy in patients with chronic pain related to failed back surgery syndrome: a pilot study.

Introduction: In the last two decades, ozone has emerged as a treatment for low back pain, applied by means of minimally invasive techniques.

Objective: The aim of this study is to assess the effect and safety of ozone therapy applied in the epidural space for chronic pain related to failed back surgery syndrome.

Methods: The investigators studied 13 sequential patients of both sexes, between 18 and 70 years old, with persistent chronic pain (more than six months) in the lumbar region and in the lower limbs related to failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS).

Intra-operative transdural electric stimulation in awake patient: target refining for motor cortex stimulation.

Introduction: Most authors perform the implantation of epidural electrodes for motor cortex stimulation (MCS) under general anesthesia, using navigation merely based on anatomic landmarks or in combination with intra-operative sensory evoked potentials (SEP) for functional localization. However, intra-operative SEP can only provide the localization of central sulcus in patients who present sensory pathways which are at least partially preserved. Conversely, there are massive deafferentation pain syndromes (e.

Microendoscopic stereotactic-guided percutaneous radiofrequency trigeminal nucleotractotomy.

Object: Over the past few decades, various authors have performed open or stereotactic trigeminal nucleotractotomy for the treatment of neuropathic facial pain resistant to medical treatment. Stereotactic procedures can be performed percutaneously under local anesthesia, allowing intraoperative neurological examination as a method for target refinement. However, blind percutaneous procedures in the region of the atlantooccipital transition carry a considerably high risk of vascular injuries that may bring prohibitive neurological deficit or even death.

Endoscopic-guided percutaneous radiofrequency cordotomy.

The authors present the first clinical implementation of an endoscopic-assisted percutaneous anterolateral radiofrequency cordotomy. The aim of this article is to demonstrate the intradural endoscopic visualization of the cervical spinal cord via a percutaneous approach to refine the spinal target for anterolateral cordotomy, avoiding undesired trauma to the spinal tissue or injury to blood vessels. Initially, a lateral puncture of the spinal canal in the C1-2 interspace is performed, guided by fluoroscopy.