Dorsal Root Ganglion Stimulation for Chronic Postoperative Pain Following Thoracic Surgery: A Pilot Study

Practical Advices for Treating Chronic Pain in the Time of COVID-19: A Narrative Review Focusing on Interventional Techniques

“…With regard to alternative strategies, such as various forms of neuromodulation [ 30 , 31 , 32 ] Deer and colleagues [ 29 ] recently reported that Australia has allowed radiofrequency ablations without prior diagnostic blocks and spinal cord stimulator implantation without the need for an external trial. Moreover, as recently noted [ 33 , 34 , 35 ], choosing a non-rechargeable implanted pulse generator (IPG) directly implanted without a trial phase resulted in effective spinal cord stimulation for the management of neuropathic pain in a pilot study. The use of telemedicine for most neurostimulation device troubleshooting was highly recommended, when possible, to solve device malfunction, modify stimulation patterns and manage technical problems or hardware malfunctions.…”

“…According to the approach developed by Thomson and colleagues [ 34 ], physicians can consider a pre-implant score to select clinical conditions or targeted procedures [ 35 ] with high probability of a successful spinal cord stimulation (SCS) trial. In cases of loss of neurostimulator function due to lead migration, lead fracture and IPG malfunction, the International Neuromodulation Society (INS) suggested avoiding surgically revising neurostimulator implants until planned elective surgeries are re-initiated [ 36 , 37 ].…”

Dorsal Root Ganglion Stimulation for the Treatment of Non-Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Related Chronic Pain Syndromes: A Systematic Review

“…Pain syndrome etiology for these reports varied widely which included phantom limb pain, post‐Lyme disease peripheral neuropathic pain, anterior cutaneous nerve entrapment, postsurgical knee pain, neuropathic pain after peripheral nerve injury, diabetic peripheral neuropathy, refractory loin pain hematuria syndrome, and idiopathic small fiber neuropathy of the left foot. Eight out of nine patients reports (19,20,31,34,35,41–43) demonstrated 50% or greater pain relief, post‐trial period, when observed at the time of last follow‐up. In this group, (18/65) patients experienced complications including: lead dislocation (one requiring explant (43)), lead breakage, device pocket pain, device overstimulation, lead migration, and superficial wound infection.…”

“…There is early and limited evidence that suggests that DRGS may prove to be a beneficial salvage strategy in patients that lose SCS efficacy in the long term (15,16). In our review, we found: (10/28) mentioned failed conventional management without detailed description of specific treatments (17–25), (7/28) failed to mention the failure of early management (26–32), (3/28) reported patients failing pharmacological management only (33–35), and (9/28) detail specific failed early management therapies prior to DRGS treatment (25,36–43). Of these nine reports, (5/9) detailed the failure of SCS previous with (4/5) detailing patients specifically.…”

Ultrasound-Guided Percutaneous Cryoneurolysis for Post-Thoracotomy Pain Syndrome: A Case Report

“…There is no previous study describing US as a means to deliver cryoneurolysis therapy to the intercostal nerves for developed and chronic PTPS refractory to medication optimization and targeted nerve blocks. We report a case in which a single US-guided cryoneurolysis intervention was used in such a patient to provide a safe, radiation-free means of immediate pain relief that was significant and sustained over 14 weeks compared to the four weeks of pain relief reported in studies utilizing US-guided nerve/plane blocks [12][13][14][15][16][17].…”