Bilateral thoracoscopic splanchnicectomy in patients with chronic pancreatitis.

BACKGROUND: Intractable pain, the most prominent feature of chronic pancreatitis, causes the patient great disability, and its treatment poses a difficult problem for gastroenterologist and surgeon alike. The main goal of treatment is to provide sufficient and lasting pain relief without the use of opiates. Conservative management, including stopping alcohol consumption, dietary measures, pancreatic enzyme suppletion and analgesics, is discussed. When these measures fail, surgery is often unavoidable. Indications, effect on pain relief, morbidity and mortality of drainage and resection procedures are described. Bilateral thoracoscopic splanchnicectomy, a newly developed operation to alleviate pain irrespective of the type of anatomic abnormality, is outlined in more detail. Early encouraging results of pain relief in patients with chronic pancreatitis after thoracoscopic splanchnicectomy are presented.

Postoperative titration of intravenous morphine in the elderly patient.

BACKGROUND: Intravenous morphine titration is used to obtain rapid and complete postoperative pain relief. Whether this titration can be safely administered in the elderly patients remains a matter for debate. METHODS: Intravenous morphine titration was administered as a bolus of 2 (body weight < or = 60 kg) or 3 (body weight > 60 kg) mg. The interval between each bolus was 5 min. There was no limitation in the number of boluses given until pain relief or severe adverse effect occurred. The visual analog scale threshold required to administer morphine was 30 mm, and pain relief was defined as a visual analog scale score of 30 mm or less. Patients were divided into two groups: young and elderly (age > or = 70 yr) patients. Data were expressed as mean +/- SD. RESULTS: Eight hundred seventy-five patients (83%) were young and 175 patients (17%) were elderly. At the end of morphine titration, the visual analog scale score and the number of patients with pain relief were not significantly different between groups. The total dose of morphine per kilograms of body weight administered was not significantly different between groups (0.15 +/- 0.10 vs. 0.14 +/- 0.09 mg/kg, not significant). No significant differences were observed in the incidence of morphine-related adverse effects (13 vs. 14%, not significant), the number of sedated patients (60 vs. 60%, not significant), and the number of patients whose titration had to be stopped (2 vs. 2%, not significant). CONCLUSION: Intravenous morphine titration can be safely administered to elderly patients. Because titration is adapted to individual pain, the same protocol can be applied to young and elderly patients.

pain relief with morphine, intrathecally or peridurally?

We investigated pain relief following 1-2 mg morphine intrathecally applied in 7 patients with cancer pains and in 5 patients with multiple rib fractures (group 1). For postoperative pain relief (group 2) we applied 1-2 mg morphine intrathecally in 26 patients immediately before the induction of the anaesthesia. In 30 patients we applied 4 mg morphine epidurally in 10-20 ml saline solution for postoperative pain relief (group 3). In the first group the duration of the pain relief was 25,2 hours, in the second group 31 hours and in the third group 15,7 hours. In the second group a respiratory depression occurred in 3 cases and was successfully treated with naloxon. In the third group a bladder disorder occurred in two cases. Because of the risk of respiratory depression following intrathecally applied morphine, we recommend the epidural way of application.

Long-term outcome of spinal cord stimulation and hardware complications.

Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is a treatment modality for medically intractable chronic pain. This study reports an 11-year experience with SCS assessing long-term pain relief and specifically evaluating complications and revisions. It took the form of a retrospective review of medical/surgical records with a postal questionnaire. The subjects were 102 patients with medically intractable chronic pain who underwent SCS implantation between 1989 and 2000. There were 64 revision operations carried out on 35 patients. These comprised electrode replacement/repositioning (29), generator replacement (23), cable failure (3) and implant removal (5). Five (4.9%) implants became infected and 2 required removal. Clinician-reported pain relief was substantial in 69 (68%) patients. This study adds to the weight of evidence that patients undergoing SCS derive significant benefits in terms of pain relief. However, revision rates remain high due to technical and biological factors. Copyright 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel

Intracranial stimulation for the control of chronic pain.

Long-term stimulation of deep brain structures for pain relief has been efficacious in a significant number of patients who have been total failures at every other means of pain control. Two primary sites are used at this time--the periventricular grey area, which is related to the endogenous opiate system, and the internal capsule system, which is related to the dorsal column projection system. Periventricular sites are more efficacious for externally generated pain, that is, pain with input through the dorsal horn. Internal capsule stimulation is more efficacious for central nervous system-generated pain. While the preoperative preparation and intraoperative testing as well as postoperative testing of these patients requires a great deal of time and tedious attention to detail, our long-term results have been excellent using a combined comprehensive pain unit approach to pain and stress management, plus the stimulation techniques in carefully selected patients. Our results would indicate that initially 80-85% of patients get good pain relief, and then that range decreases to between 50 and 60% over a long period of time. Deep brain stimulation for pain relief is not a technique that should be used on a large number of patients with simple pain problems, but is highly efficacious in a selected group of patients with very specific pain problems that do not respond to usual pain treatment techniques. In patients with pain generated by benign etiologies, it is far superior to destructive procedures and does not have the secondary side effects of sensory loss, postchordotomy dysesthesias, or secondary neurological deficits.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Effects of topical capsaicin on normal skin and affected dermatomes in herpes zoster.

Hyperalgesia and allodynia, lasting for months or even years, occurs in the form of post-herpetic neuralgia in approximately 70% of adults previously infected with the varicella herpes zoster virus. The present study aimed at testing the analgesic desensitising actions and reversibility of repeated application of topical capsaicin on disordered polymodal nociceptors and peptidergic sensory fibres mediating warm and pain sensation. Cutaneous nociceptor desensitisation was measured using the Glasgow automated thermal threshold test (Medelec TTT). For normal subjects (n = 69) the mean forearm warm threshold was 0.15 +/- 0.07 degrees C and the cold threshold was 0.14 +/- 0.10 degrees C. A variable degree of partial desensitisation of herpes-affected skin was found in 15 patients with post-herpetic neuralgia before capsaicin treatment where the mean threshold elevation for warm detection was 1.19 degrees C and 0.7 degrees C for cold detection, compared with the corresponding normal skin. In preliminary studies of 15 patients with post-herpetic neuralgia, good pain relief averaging 30% or 77% occurred in the affected dermatome(s) after 3 to 4 weeks of 0.01% or 0.05% capsaicin cream respectively, applied 3-4 times daily. The warm thresholds, after chronic capsaicin treatment, increased between 0.1 and 7.60 degrees C, the average elevation being 3.69 degrees C. By contrast cold thresholds after capsaicin altered inconsistently and by only an average of 0.08 degrees C. The results suggest that elevation of the warm threshold may indicate the desensitisation achieved by capsaicin treatment of skin polymodal nociceptors. Cold detection, being dependent upon A-delta cold fibre function, is unaffected by capsaicin treatment. There was a poor correlation between pain relief and elevation of warm detection in response to capsaicin treatment. Generally, it was found that those patients with less initial desensitisation to warm detection as a consequence of post-herpetic neuralgia experienced better pain relief after capsaicin was applied. The method used permits determination of the minimum effective desensitising dose of capsaicin, enables patient compliance and progress to be monitored and should allow the prediction of patients likely to achieve the best response to treatment.

Objective and subjective response in stage D2 prostate cancer patients with cancer pain

Fourty-eight patients with stage D2 prostate cancer, initially treated with endocrine therapy at the University of Tokyo between 1981 and 1990, were followed up and analysed. For the assessment of a subjective response, pain score, narcotic score, and performance stages (PS) were used. Of the fourty-eight patients, twenty-one suffered from cancer pain due to bone metastases. These patients showed significantly (p < 0.01) more lesions of bone metastases and higher PS, compared with patients without cancer pain. The progression free survival of these patients was significantly (p < 0.01) lower than that of patients without cancer pain, although the actuarial survival was not significant. In twenty-one patients with cancer pain, the objective and subjective response rates to endocrine therapy were 75% and 86%, respectively. The duration of pain relief was 1.25-54 (median 19) months. Those rates to anti-cancer chemotherapy in refractory patients (8 patients) previously treated with endocrine therapy were both 25% and those to additional administration of flutamide (FUL) or diethylstilbestrol (DES) in refractory patients (6 patients) were 33% and 100%, respectively. Although the duration of pain relief was 0.78-8 (median 2) months, the additional administration of DES or FLU led to pain relief and improved quality of life (QOL) in all 6 patients. Endocrine therapy such as LH-RH agonist and non-steroidal pure anti-androgen, which has no severe side effects, would be of great usefulness in stage D2 prostatic cancer patients with pain on the basis of efficacy and safety.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Long term results of pancreaticojejunostomy in chronic pancreatitis.

Fifty-one consecutive pancreaticojejunostomies for pain in chronic pancreatitis performed during the years 1964 to 1983 have been reviewed. Mean observation time was 8.2 years. Information on alcohol consumption, pain intensity and clinical signs of pancreatic dysfunction was recorded at regular intervals. Operative mortality was nil. Analysis showed no difference between alcohol abusers and other patients with regard to calcification, ductal dilation or exocrine and endocrine insufficiency. Good to excellent pain relief was achieved in 65 per cent of abusers and 88 per cent of nonabusers and was stable for at least five years. Patients who are heavy and unremitting abusers did not get much pain relief as a result of the operation. Patency of the anastomosis does not seem to be crucial for pain relief after pancreaticojejunostomy.

Fractionated half-body irradiation for pain palliation in widely metastatic cancers: comparison with single dose.

PURPOSE: To explore fractionated half-body irradiation (HBI) for pain palliation and determine if it is more efficient and effective than single dose HBI. METHODS AND MATERIALS: During the last 13 years, 75 out of 115 HBIs (64%) at the University of Maryland Medical Center were given for palliation of various widely metastatic cancers (28% prostate, 25% breast, 12% lung). The HBI fields were 28% upper, 25% mid, and 47% lower; three patients had both upper and lower HBI. An initial performance status (PS) 3&4 with a life expectancy < 3 months was found in 50% of patients. The HBI techniques used on consecutive patients were: single dose (SD) in 54% with escalating doses of 4-10 Gy; split-course (SC) in 12% with two 4 Gy single doses separated by 2 weeks; and daily fractionated (DF) in 34% with five fractions of 3 Gy each. There were 68 of 75 HBI (91%) given for pain control purposes. RESULTS: The percent total (complete) pain relief was SD-73(32), SC-50(13), and DF-96(49). Time to maximum and (complete) relief was: SD 5 days each and DF HBI 7(11) days. Pain-free survival (PFS) was short but so was overall survival (OS). PFS was SD-5, SC-4.5, and DF-19 weeks. The percent of the remaining patient's life spent pain free without retreatment (NPR) was SD-38, SC-34, and DF-68. Differences in pain relief, PFS, OS, and NPR were significant and carried over primary tumor types; prostate, breast, and surprisingly GI were very responsive (90, 84, and 83%, respectively). On multivariate analysis only the PS and degree of relief were independent variables. Despite lack of premedication in DF-HBI, toxic reactions were identical to SD-HBI with premedication. No Grade 4 toxicities occurred. Grade 3 toxicities were 4%. Retreatment was 3% in SD and 13% in fractionated HBI; these differences were not significant. CONCLUSION: HBI is still the most effective and efficient way to palliate pain from widely disseminated cancer. Fractionating HBI eliminates need for the premedication and close patient monitoring required for SD-HBI. It also allows for an increase in total dose which can produce better responses in pain relief, duration of relief, PFS, OS, and quality of life.

Efficacy of serotonin receptor blocker for symptomatic lumbar disc herniation.

Serotonin is one of the chemical mediators associated with nerve root inflammation and sciatic symptoms in lumbar disc herniation. The efficacy of serotonin 5-HT(2A) receptor blocker was examined in 44 patients with symptomatic lumbar disc herniation. A selective 5-HT(2A) receptor blocker (sarpogrelate hydroxychloride) was administered orally at a dose of 300 mg per day for 2 weeks. Visual analog scales of low back pain, sciatic pain, and numbness were significantly improved after the administration of the serotonin 5-HT(2A) receptor blocker. Clinical results were good (> 50% pain relief) in 23 patients, fair (25%-50% pain relief) in five patients, and poor (< 25% of pain relief) in 16 patients. Nineteen patients eventually required surgery because of muscle weakness or cauda equina symptoms. The effect of 5-HT(2A) blocker was good in 64% of patients who had uncontained disc herniation, whereas all patients with contained disc herniation had fair or poor results. Patients with uncontained disc herniation responded more favorably to the 5-HT(2A) blocker treatment than patients with contained disc herniation. A 5-HT(2A) blocker has the potential to block the cascade of acute nerve root inflammation and to alleviate symptoms in lumbar disc herniation.