Comparison of the Efficacy of a Gabapentinoid with an Opioid Versus an Opioid Alone in Patients with Spinal Cord Stimulation.

BACKGROUND: Combination therapy with a gabapentinoid and an opioid improves the quality of life (QOL) of patients with chronic pain. However, the role of combination therapy in patients with spinal cord stimulation (SCS) has not been evaluated. OBJECTIVE: Our primary objective was to evaluate the clinical outcomes of combination therapy consisting of a gabapentinoid and an opioid in patients undergoing SCS. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective evaluation. SETTING: Veterans Health Service Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 100 military veteran patients who underwent SCS implantation. Forty-eight of 100 patients had been maintained on SCS for 2 years. Patients were divided into 2 groups by analgesic type: group A (opioid only, n = 20) and group B (opioid + gabapentinoids, n = 28). Pre-implantation information included the numeric rating scale (NRS) pain score, quality of life scale (QOLS) score, and oral morphine equivalents (OMEs). Post-implantation data were obtained at 1, 6, 12, and 24 months. RESULTS: Group B had higher QOLS scores at 1, 6, 12, and 24 months than those of group A (P < 0.05). There were no statistically significant differences in the NRS pain score or OMEs at 1, 6, 12, or 24 months between the 2 groups. LIMITATION: Retrospective design, relatively short follow up period (2 years). CONCLUSION: This study indicated that the addition of a gabapentinoid to an opioid is superior to an opioid alone in terms of QOL in military veteran patients with SCS for 2 years. Combination therapy consisting of a gabapentinoid added to an opioid can be a good modality to improve QOL in patients with SCS. KEY WORDS: Combination, drug therapy, gabapentin, multimodal analgesia, opioid, pain, pregabalin, spinal cord stimulation.

Epidural anesthesia for permanent spinal cord stimulation with a cylindrical type lead: a case series.

Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) in trials involving external stimulation are easily conducted under local anesthesia. However, implantation of a permanent SCS system is painful, and can be intolerable in some patients. Epidural anesthesia can be used to perform the SCS implantation without discomfort if the patient can localize the area of paresthesia. However, little is known about epidural anesthesia for SCS. This paper reports 23 cases of permanent SCS with a cylindrical type lead implanted under the epidural anesthesia. Epidural anesthesia was sufficient in 22 patients without discomfort and significant complications. The remaining patient experienced incomplete epidural anesthesia and required additional analgesics to blunt the pain. All the leads were placed consistent with the patient's report of paresthesia area under epidural anesthesia. Thus, epidural anesthesia is an effective and safe method for the optimal placement of SCS to minimize the discomfort for patients without impairing patients' response to the intraoperative stimulation test.

Treatment of digit ulcers in a patient with Buerger's disease by using cervical spinal cord stimulation -a case report-.

Buerger's disease (thromboangiitis obliterans) is known as a segmental inflammatory vasculitis that involves the small-sized and medium-sized arteries, veins, and nerves. Most effective treatment for Buerger's disease is smoking cessation. Except for the cessation of tobacco use, surgical revascularization is available in severe ischemia and a distal target vessel. Amputation has been used as the last treatment option of the disease up to the present. Increasing limb survival and decreasing amputation rate is important. This case describes the use of spinal cord stimulation (SCS) in patient with Buerger's disease and its effect is not only the complete healing of ulcers but also amputation is not performed.

Airway obstruction by extrinsic tracheal compression during spinal surgery under prone position -A case report-.

Tracheal compression by vascular anomalies in adults is uncommon and most related reports are of children. A 79-year-old woman without any respiratory history underwent a lumbar spine surgery under general anesthesia. She suddenly developed airway obstruction after a position change from supine to prone. A fiberoptic bronchoscopy showed the obstruction of endotracheal tube. The obstruction was relieved after we changed the depth of endotracheal tube and supported the patient's neck with a cotton roll. The surgery ended without any other event and the patient recovered safely. A computed tomography revealed the rightward tracheal deviation and tortuous innominate artery contact with trachea. The patient didn't manifest any respiratory related symptoms during postoperative period, and she was discharged without any treatment.

Suspicious stress induced cardiomyopathy following hemorrhoidectomy under spinal anesthesia: A case report.

A 48-year-old healthy woman was admitted in our hospital for elective hemorrhoidectomy. She developed sudden headache and chest pain, and showed sinus bradycardia, arrhythmia and hypotension forty minutes after spinal anesthesia with 0.5% hyperbaric bupivacaine. An EKG showed ST depression and an transthoracic echocardiogram performed in PACU demonstrated mild LV dysfunction with hypokinesia of LV inferolateral wall. An coronary angiography on postoperative day 1 revealed normal coronary vessel and akinesia of LV inferior wall. Levels of CK-MB and Troponin I were mildly elevated. With medical therapy, the patient's symptoms improved and recovered without any complication.

Bilateral vocal cord palsy in a post-anesthesia care unit after total thyroidectomy: A case report.

A patient had respiratory difficulty and hoarseness following total thyroidectomy due to bilateral vocal cord palsy. The patient was a 60-year-old man who underwent total thyroidectomy for papillary carcinoma of the thyroid. He had no laryngeal symptoms prior to the operation. Anesthesia lasted 3.5 hours and was uneventful. Spontaneous respiration resumed after reversal of the neuromuscular blockade. After arriving at the post-anesthesia care unit, he complained of respiratory difficulty and hoarseness. We confirmed bilateral vocal cord palsy by fiberoptic laryngoscopy. It is necessary to perform a complete and thorough search for the underlying cause of vocal cord palsy.