RESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: This is a case presentation of a 45-year-old male with chronic donor site pain following autologous iliac crest bone harvest successfully treated with superior cluneal nerve blockade. Donor site pain following autologous bone harvest is a common postoperative complication of lumbar fusion procedures that can cause significant morbidity and diminish quality of life, even in the context of an otherwise successful surgery. Dysfunction of the superior cluneal nerves is an etiology of this chronic pain. The patient's medical history, attempted treatments, and literature were reviewed. CASE PRESENTATION: A 45-year-old male with a six year history of severe pain over the right iliac crest following an otherwise successful lumbar laminectomy and fusion underwent two sets of superior cluneal nerve blocks, with sustained relief of more than 80% at seven months follow up. CONCLUSIONS: Donor site pain following autologous iliac crest bone harvest is a common surgical complication that is often resistant to conservative treatments such as physical therapy and oral medications. Blockade of the superior cluneal nerves is a safe and technically simple procedure that may result in long-term pain relief, obviating the need to consider more invasive options.
RESUMEN
Classical trigeminal neuralgia (CTN) is treated predominantly by pharmacotherapy but side effects and unsuccessful occurs. The current study was carried out to evaluate the therapeutic effect of combination of pharmacotherapy and lidocaine block. Thirteen patients with CTN managed with pharmacotherapy were recruited and assigned either to no additional treatment (Group I) or to additional analgesic block (Group II). The primary endpoint was the reduction in the frequency of pain episodes in a month assessed at 30 and 90 days. Comparisons of measurements of pain, general health and depression scales were secondary endpoints. The results from the follow-up visits at 30 and 90 days showed the Group II to have larger reduction in the frequency of pain and exhibited a bigger improvement in the scores of the pain, general health and depression scales. The results from this preliminary study suggest a clinical benefit of the combination of pharmacotherapy and lidocaine block.
A neuralgia clássica do trigêmio (NTC) é tratada predominantemente por drogas, porém efeitos colaterais e falhas terapêuticas ocorrem. Avaliamos o efeito terapêutico da combinação entre farmacoterapia e bloqueio analgésico utilizando a lidocaína. Treze pacientes portadores de NTC tratados com farmacoterapia foram divididos em dois grupos: Grupo I pacientes que mantiveram somente tratamento medicamentos e Grupo II pacientes que associaram bloqueio anestésico. O objetivo primário do estudo foi à redução da freqüência da dor 30 e 90 dias após o bloqueio. Secundariamente avaliamos o impacto sobre as escalas de depressão, dor e qualidade de vida. O grupo II teve uma redução significativa na freqüência da dor e uma melhora nos escores de qualidade de vida, dor e escala de depressão. Os resultados sugerem um benefício clinico da combinação de farmacoterapia e bloqueio anestésico no tratamento da NTC.