Editor-in-Chief: Alaa Abd-Elsayed, MD, PhD


Current Issue - May 2021 - Vol 5 Issue 3 Index  |  Previous  |  Next

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Abstract

  1. 2021;5;155-158 Spinal Cord Stimulation for Complex Chronic Pain Following Extensive Pleural Mesothelioma and Subsequent Post-Thoracotomy Pain Syndrome
    Case Report
    Jay Karri, MD, Harsha R. Kannan, DO, George Polson, MD, and Brian Bruel, MD.

BACKGROUND: Cases of malignant pleural mesothelioma and subsequent post-thoracotomy pain syndrome include pain that remains daunting and clinically challenging to manage. These presentations of pain are quite medically complex and etiologically multifactorial in nature. This challenge often yields poorly effective approaches, highlighting the need for new effective treatment including interventional procedures – especially in the context of increased cancer survivorship rates.
The objective of this case report is to present the efficacious use of spinal cord stimulation as an alternative interventional approach to the management of complex pain syndromes, particularly in the case of a malignant pleural mesothelioma and post-thoracotomy pain syndrome.

CASE REPORT: The patient underwent successful trial and implantation of the spinal cord stimulator pulse generator under standard practices. The analysis of the procedure’s efficacy was based on the patient’s pain, monitored over appropriate follow-up and measured using the Visual Analog Scale as well the patient’s own satisfaction. Upon successful completion of the trial and placement procedures, the patient experienced a significant reduction in pain that had been refractory to standard analgesic practices, thus allowing the patient to resume and improve functional capabilities.

CONCLUSIONS: Findings of this report are limited to this case, warranting further studies exploring its efficacy and reproducibility. As presented through our experience in this case, there is potential for the use of neuromodulatory techniques in the context of cancer-related pain syndromes, offering a promising avenue for a clinically challenging condition.

KEY WORDS: Cancer pain, interventional pain, mesothelioma, neuromodulation, pain, pain rehabilitation, pain syndromes, post-thoracotomy pain syndrome, spinal cord stimulation

 

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