BACKGROUND: Bertolotti's syndrome (BS), a form of lumbago in lumbosacral transitional vertebrae, is an important cause of low back pain in young patients. The purpose of this study was to assess the etiology of low back pain and the efficacy of treatment offered to patients with BS. METHODS: All patients of BS Castellvi type1a during a period of 6 months were enrolled in the study. The patients underwent interventional pain procedures for diagnosis and pain relief. Response to the therapy was assessed based on VAS and ODI scores. A 50% decrease in VAS score or a VAS score less than 3 would be considered adequate pain relief. RESULTS: All 20 patients diagnosed with BS during the 6-month observation period had scoliosis. Common causes of back pain were the ipsilateral L5-S1 facet joint, neoarticulation, the SI joint, and disc degeneration. Responses to various interventions for pain relief were different and inconsistent from patient to patient. In particular, responses to interventions for neoarticular pain were generally poor. CONCLUSIONS: Pain in patients with BS does not usually respond to interventional pain treatment. A very dynamic treatment approach must be pursued while managing BS patients, and the treatment plan must be individualized at various stages in order to obtain satisfactory pain relief.
Back Pain ; Humans ; Intervertebral Disc Degeneration ; Joints ; Low Back Pain ; Scoliosis ; Spine ; Zygapophyseal Joint

No abstract available.
B-Lymphocytes ; Humans ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma

BACKGROUND: Venipuncture pain is an uncomfortable suffering to the patient. It creates anxiety, fear and dissatisfaction. The ketoprofen transdermal patch is a proven treatment for musculoskeletal and arthritic pain. We planned this study to evaluate the efficacy of the ketoprofen patch to reduce venipuncture pain. METHODS: Two hundred adult patients, aged 18–60 years, of either sex, ASA grade I or II, were enrolled. Presuming that therapy would decrease venipuncture pain by 30%, a power calculation with α = 0.05 and β = 0.80 required enrollment of at least 24 patients into each group. However, 100 patients in each group were recruited. Group I (Control) received a placebo patch; Group II (Ketoprofen) received a 20 mg ketoprofen patch. A selected vein on the dorsum of the patient's non-dominant hand was cannulated with 18 g intravenous cannula 1 h after the application of the respective patch. Assessment of pain was done by a 10 cm visual analogue scale (VAS) of 0–10, where 0 depicts “no pain” and 10 is “the worst imaginable pain”. The venipuncture site was assessed for the presence of skin erythema, swelling and rashes at 12 h, 24 h and at the time of decannulation. RESULTS: Incidence of pain was 100% (94/94) in the control group as compared to 93% (85/91) in the ketoprofen group. The severity of the venipuncture pain was 6 (2) and 2 (2) for control and ketoprofen groups respectively (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Application of a ketoprofen patch at the proposed site of venipuncture one hour before the attempt is effective and safe for attenuating venipuncture pain.
Adult ; Anxiety ; Catheterization ; Catheters ; Erythema ; Exanthema ; Hand ; Humans ; Incidence ; Ketoprofen ; Phlebotomy ; Skin ; Transdermal Patch ; Veins ; Visual Analog Scale

Background: Regional nerve blocks are an integral part of multimodal analgesia and should be chosen based on their efficacy, convenience, and minimal side effects. Here, we compare the use of pectoral (PEC II) and serratus-intercostal fascial plane (SIFP) blocks in breast carcinoma cases undergoing modified radical mastectomy (MRM) in terms of the postoperative analgesic efficacy and shoulder mobility. Methods: The primary outcome of this prospective controlled study was to compare the postoperative static and dynamic pain scores, and the secondary outcome was to assess the shoulder pain, range of shoulder joint motion, and hemodynamic parameters. Sixty patients were randomly allocated to three groups and given general anesthesia. All patients received paracetamol, diclofenac, and rescue doses of tramadol based on the Institute's Acute Pain Service (APS) policy. No block was performed in group C (control), whereas groups P and S received PEC II and SIFP blocks, respectively, before surgical incision. Results: The groups were comparable in terms of age, weight, height, and body mass index distribution (P > 0.05). Dynamic pain relief was significantly better 12 and 24 h postoperatively in groups P (P = 0.034 and P = 0.04, respectively) and S (P = 0.01 and P = 0.02, respectively) compared to group C. Shoulder pain relief and shoulder mobility were better in group S, while the hemodynamic parameters were more stable in group P. Conclusions Both SIFP and PEC blocks have comparable dynamic and static pain relief with better shoulder pain scores in patients receiving SIFP.