We describe the mechanisms, pattern of injuries, management and outcomes of severe injuries to the brachial plexus sustained during the play of rugby.Thirteen cases of severe injury to the brachial plexus caused by tackles in rugby had detailed clinical assessment, and operative exploration of the brachial plexus. Seventeen spinal nerves were avulsed, two were ruptured and there were traction lesions in continuity of 24 spinal nerves. The pattern of nerve lesion was related to the posture of the neck and the forequarter at the moment of impact. Early repair by nerve transfer enabled some functional recovery, and decompression of lesions in continuity was followed by recovery of nerve function and relief of pain. (Source: Injury)
Original: MedWorm: Back Pain
DENVER – An ERISA-governed disability insurer’s reliance on record reviews and a vocational assessment in its decision to terminate benefits to a claimant with back pain was reasonable, the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Feb. 7 in an unpublished decision (Kandace Williams v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., et al., No. 10-1504, 10th Cir.; 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 2291). Full story on lexis.com (Source: LexisNexis® Mealey’s™ Disability Insurance Legal News)
Origin: MedWorm: Back Pain
Conclusions: Our findings suggest that upregulation of IL-8 in the ACC is partly attributable to the enhanced prefrontal synaptic transmission in the mice with persistent inflammatory pain. (Source: Molecular Pain)
Via: MedWorm: Back Pain
Eye care physicians are at particular risk for hand/wrist, neck, and lower back pain compared with family medicine physicians. Several job factors contribute to their musculoskeletal symptoms. Medscape Medical News (Source: Medscape Today Headlines)
Credit: MedWorm: Back Pain
Source: HealthDay – Related MedlinePlus Pages: Back Pain, Obesity (Source: MedlinePlus Health News)
By: MedWorm: Back Pain
This approach should be “a first-line therapy once individuals are identified with this peripheral neuropathic pain process,” says researcher. Medscape Medical News (Source: Medscape Today Headlines)
Hat Tip To: MedWorm: Back Pain
Conclusion: Clinical signs of TMD and pain symptoms are common in children. The relationship of back pain, neck-shoulder muscle palpation tenderness, and headache with clinical signs of TMD suggests that more attention should be paid to stomatognathic function in children with such pain problems. J Orofac Pain 2012;26:17-25. PMID: 22292136 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Pain Physician)
Original: MedWorm: Back Pain
1.5 out of 5 stars Irukandji Sydrome [sic] in the Torres Strait: A Series of 8 Cases. McIver LJ et al. Wilderness Environ Med 2011;22:338-342. Abstract The problems with this paper merely begin with the dropped “n” in the second word of the title. Then we get to the first sentence of the abstract, where despite the title’s promise of a case series of Irukandji syndrome (or sydrome, or whatever) we find a classic medical literature bait-and-switch: Objective–To review the presentations of a series of patients with suspected Irukandji syndrome in the Torres Strait, where the syndrome has hitherto been unknown or undocumented, in order to identify at-risk groups and improve the management of this condition in the region. So we’re dealing not with cases of Irukan…
Hat Tip To: MedWorm: Back Pain
Back problems are a highly prevalent health issue, and people with the condition have a significantly greater chance of retiring early from the workforce, much more so than for any other health condition. A group of Australian researchers reports that not only does early retirement limit the immediate income available to these individuals, but it also reduces their long-term financial capacity, by reducing their ability to accumulate wealth to a significant degree. Their study is published in the January issue of Pain®… (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)
Origin: MedWorm: Back Pain
AbstractInsulin and insulin‐like growth factor‐I play important roles in the development and maintenance of neurons and glial cells of the nervous system. Both factors activate tyrosine kinase receptors, which signal through adapter proteins of the insulin receptor substrate (IRS) family. Although insulin and insulin‐like growth factor‐I receptors are expressed in dorsal root ganglia (DRG), the function of IRS‐mediated signalling in these structures has not been studied. Here we address the role of IRS2‐mediated signalling in murine DRG. Studies in cultured DRG neurons from different embryonic stages indicated that a subset of nerve growth factor‐responsive neurons is also dependent on insulin for survival at very early time points. Consistent with this, increased apoptosis d…
Hat Tip To: MedWorm: Back Pain
(Elsevier Health Sciences) Back problems are a highly prevalent health issue, and people with the condition have a significantly greater chance of retiring early from the workforce, much more so than for any other health condition. A group of Australian researchers reports that not only does early retirement limit the immediate income available to these individuals, but it also reduces their long-term financial capacity, by reducing their ability to accumulate wealth to a significant degree. Their study is published in the January issue of Pain. (Source: EurekAlert! – Social and Behavioral Science)
Hat Tip To: MedWorm: Back Pain
The blink reflex is routinely used in clinical neurophysiology to characterize the functional integrity of the trigemino-facial reflex pathway covering supraorbital nerve, pons, medulla oblongata, and facial nerve. Recent findings of unconditioned blink reflex alterations, as well as changes in blink reflex modulation by subthreshold prepulse stimuli or suprathreshold double pulse stimulation, in patients with spinal cord injury or chronic pain syndromes, e.g. fibromyalgia, suggest plastic changes at the brainstem level in these conditions. The blink reflex and its modulation also serve to document acute pharmacological effects, e.g. following intrathecal bolus application of the GABA-ergic drug baclofen, thus concurring with an antispastic action of baclofen at the brainstem level. Finall…
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Conclusions: Radiographic DJD cannot be diagnosed with certainty using palpation or goniometry. However, negative findings tend to predict radiographically normal joints. Palpation and goniometry may be used as a tool to help to screen cats, mostly to rule out DJD. (Source: BMC Veterinary Research – Latest articles)
Hat Tip To: MedWorm: Back Pain
A 74-year-old man developed a severe low back pain and a fever. In the initial examinations, a collapse of the L5 anterosuperior vertebral body and narrowing of the L4/5 disc space were identified on radiographs, and the laboratory data showed inflammatory results. A computed tomography (CT) and a magnetic resonance imaging showed collapse of L5. A needle biopsy was performed to make a diagnosis; however, an abdominal pain and a hypotension appeared after the biopsy. An abdominal CT showed a hematoma in the retroperitoneal space, and an angiography revealed a left fourth lumbar artery pseudoaneurysm. The pseudoaneurysm was treated with transcatheter placement of microcoils. Although haemorrhagic complications following needle biopsy are very rare, patients with large amounts of vertebral d…
By: MedWorm: Back Pain
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Working out regularly may brighten the mood of people with chronic health problems like cancer, heart disease and back pain, according to the first sweeping look at previous research. (Source: Reuters: Health)
Original: MedWorm: Back Pain
CONCLUSION: There is substantial short- and longer-term morbidity and ongoing analgesic use among patients who present to an ED with undifferentiated musculoskeletal low back pain. PMID: 22265130 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Pain Physician)
Source: MedWorm: Back Pain
Conclusion: In this population-based study, statin use was associated with a higher prevalence of musculoskeletal pain, particularly in the lower extremities, among individuals without arthritis. Evidence that statin use was associated with musculoskeletal pain among those with arthritis was lacking. (Source: The American Journal of Medicine)
Via: MedWorm: Back Pain
MIAMI, Jan. 22 (UPI) — A little known European holistic technique that relieves back pain, dating back to the 1890s, is gaining popularity in the United States, fitness experts say. (Source: Health News – UPI.com)
Via: MedWorm: Back Pain
ST. LOUIS – A claimant with severe back pain on Dec. 20 filed a petition for en banc review with the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, asking for his appeal to be heard by all the justices despite a ruling last month by an Eighth Circuit panel upholding a disability insurer’s reliance on record reviews and video surveillance in its decision to deny benefits (Troy J. Daigle v Hartford Life and Accident Insurance Co., No. 11-1847, 8th Cir.; 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 24349). Full story on lexis.com (Source: LexisNexis® Mealey’s™ Disability Insurance Legal News)
Via: MedWorm: Back Pain
Hyperacute allodynia, that is, pain elicited by nonpainful stimuli, after spinal cord injury, with secondary disappearance, is exceptional. Only a handful of cases are on record. (Source: Journal of Pain and Symptom Management)
Source: MedWorm: Back Pain
