TNA Headline News Archives
2008May 1, 2008 FDA Approves Relistor for Opioid-Induced Constipation Drug will help reduce effects of drugs like morphine on bowel function. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Relistor (methylnaltrexone bromide) to help restore bowel function in patients with late-stage, advanced illness who are receiving opioids on a continuous basis to help alleviate their pain. April 24, 2008 Pregabalin in the Treatment of Refractory Neuropathic Pain: Results of a 15-Month Open-Label Trial . This long-term, open-label study was a preliminary evaluation of pregabalin for patients whose pain had been judged refractory to other treatments for neuropathic pain. The results suggest that pregabalin may be beneficial in patients with neuropathic pain who have had an unsatisfactory response to treatment with other medications. March 13, 2008 An Overview of the Decade of Pain Lecture From AAPM 2008: An Expert Interview With Joshua P. Prager, MD, MS. The American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM) 24th Annual Meeting took place from February 12 to 16, 2008, in Orlando, Florida. During this meeting, new information about the diagnosis, treatment, and management of acute pain, chronic pain, and breakthrough pain (BTP) was presented. Darlene Field, PhD, Medscape Neurology & Neurosurgery Scientific Director, discussed the highlights of the "Decade of Pain" keynote address with Joshua P. Prager, MD, MS, Director, Center for the Rehabilitation of Pain Syndromes (CRPS), and Immediate Past President, North American Neuromodulation Society (NANS) . February 21, 2008 Histologic analysis of a human trigeminal nerve after failed stereotactic radiosurgery: case report. Stereotactic radiosurgery is an accepted surgery to treat patients with medically intractable trigeminal neuralgia. However, little is known about the mechanism of pain relief after trigeminal neuralgia radiosurgery. We report the histologic findings of a human trigeminal nerve after failed radiosurgery for trigeminal neuralgia. February 7, 2008 Chronic Pain Disrupts Resting Brain Dynamics. Chronic pain disrupts normal brain activity more widely than previously recognized, researchers here said. The affected regions are part of the brain's "default mode network," the areas that are active when the consciousness is not actively engaged in a task. Even when we are "doing nothing," Dr. Chialvo explained in an interview, the brain does not go completely quiet. January 24, 2008 Are you getting sleepy ... sleepy... ? Well, snap out of it. Hypnosis is more than a quirky stage act. The technique is increasingly touted as a way to break habits such as smoking, nail biting and overeating -- and even to manage chronic pain. January 10, 2008 Microvascular decompression for primary trigeminal neuralgia: long-term effectiveness and prognostic factors in a series of 362 consecutive patients with clear-cut neurovascular conflicts who underwent pure decompression. Pure MVD can offer patients affected by a primary TN a 73.38% probability of long-term (15 years) cure of neuralgia. The presence of a clear-cut and marked vascular compression at surgery (and possibly—although not yet reliably—on preoperative magnetic resonance imaging) is the guarantee of a higher than 90% success rate. 2007December 13, 2007 November 29, 2007 Efficacy of pregabalin in the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia. Fifty-three patients with trigeminal neuralgia (14 with concomitant chronic facial pain) received pregabalin (PGB) 150–600 mg daily and were prospectively followed for 1 year. The primary outcome was number of patients pain free or with reduction of pain intensity by > 50% and of attack frequency by > 50% after 8 weeks. November 15, 2007 AAO: Intraorbital Surgery Relieves Pain for Some Patients with Trigeminal Neuralgia . Seven of eight patients treated thus far have minimal or no residual pain during follow-up for as long as five years, Susan Tucker, M.D., of the Lahey Clinic in Peabody, Mass., told attendees at the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting. November 1, 2007 Smoked Cannabis Proven Effective In Treating Neuropathic Pain . Smoked cannabis eased pain induced in healthy volunteers, according to a study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Center for Medical Cannabis Research (CMCR.) However, the researchers found that less may be more. October 18, 2007 New Data Published In Neurology Show Once-Daily Lamictal XR Significantly Reduced Partial Seizures In Patients With Epilepsy. New recently published data show that Lamictal(R)XR(TM) (lamotrigine) Extended- Release Tablets significantly reduced the frequency of partial seizures in inadequately controlled patients with epilepsy. October 4, 2007 Motor cortex stimulation for chronic non-malignant pain: current state and future prospects. Motor cortex stimulation (MCS) was proposed by Tsubokawa in 1991 for the treatment of post-stroke thalamic pain. Since that time, the indications have been increased and included trigeminal neuropathic pain and later other types of central and peripheral deafferentation pain. September 20, 2007 Trial shows sleep is a painkiller. GETTING more sleep can be as effective as taking strong painkillers, according to a study showing extra shut-eye every night can be as numbing as a dose of codeine. Research presented to a world sleep conference in Cairns this week has found that one or two hours more sleep can dull sensitivity to pain as much as 60 milligrams of analgesic drugs September 6, 2007 Treatment of trigeminal neuralgia with milnacipran. Editor's Note: Milnacipran is classified and used as an antidepressant overseas. It is in a phase III Clinical trial for the treatment of fibromyalgia but has no FDA approval for use in the US currently. Ito M, Yoshida K, Kimura H, Ozaki N, Kurita K. First Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, School of Dentistry, Aichi-Gakuin University, Japan. Paroxysmal pain in a 64-year-old woman diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia disappeared with the administration of carbamazepine, but carbamazepine had to be discontinued because of intolerable lassitude and liver dysfunction. Afterward, the paroxysmal pain reoccurred, and depressive symptoms appeared. Milnacipran was then administered at a dosage of 50 mg/d for 2 months, and the paroxysmal pain and depression disappeared completely. Carbamazepine is the drug of first choice for trigeminal neuralgia, but the present results suggest that milnacipran is worth investigating for patients who do not respond to carbamazepine, who cannot stay on carbamazepine because of side effects, and who exhibit depressive symptoms. PMID: 17545752 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] August 23, 2007 Hypnosis reduces pain perception. Hypnosis can offer significant reduction in pain awareness without any effect on non-painful aspects of the subject's perception. It therefore is most effective in altering perception of acute pain, experts reported at the European Neurological Society Meeting in Rhodos (Greece). |
Updated 5-15-08
