Cannabis Use and Low-Back Pain: A Systematic Review.

Introduction: The potential use of cannabis and cannabinoid products for the treatment of low-back pain is an important area for investigation. As one of the leading reasons to visit a primary care provider, low-back pain results in a significant burden of disease in both the United States' economic and health care systems. Given the current opioid epidemic, it is important to seek novel analgesics and understand their efficacy for myriad pain conditions, including low-back pain. Materials and Methods: A systematic review was performed using multiple online databases to assess the association of cannabis use and low-back pain in the literature. Results: A total of 124 articles were produced via our search methods, 73 abstracts in total were screened, 16 articles underwent full-text review, and 6 articles were included in qualitative synthesis. Discussion: This systematic literature review reveals a lack of primary research investigating cannabis as a potential treatment of low-back pain and highlights the need for further investigation with well-designed clinical trials. There remain substantial political and legal barriers to performing such research. Conclusion: Although there is a considerable body of work on the usage of cannabinoid products for many medical conditions, including the treatment of chronic pain, more directed clinical research into their utility as an analgesic for low-back pain and related symptoms needs to be addressed.

Inferior and Intra-/Peri-Articular Superior Sacroiliac Joint Injection Approaches Under Ultrasound Guidance to Treat Metastasis-Related Posterior Pelvic Bone Pain.

BACKGROUND: Numerous mechanical and pathologic variables contribute to sacroiliac joint (SIJ) pain. The oncologic population has additional considerations, including tumor burden causing fracture, nerve compression, joint instability, and periosteal inflammation. Post-treatment changes may also restrict joint mobility, causing transitional pain. Currently, fluoroscopically guided SIJ injections, aimed at the inferior one third of the SIJ, are the gold standard for treatment but have only been described in the nononcologic population. Ultrasound (US) guidance may confer several benefits, including positioning, ease of procedure, lower costs, and, importantly, guidance to avoid neovascularization, metastatic disease, and other soft tissue structures. OBJECTIVES: We aim to describe the advantages of US-guided SIJ injections for refractory malignant SIJ pain from extra-articular tumors. We then describe our technique and decision framework for accessing the superior or inferior SIJ in patients with metastatic sacroiliac pain. METHODS: A retrospective review was performed on 5 patients with refractory malignant SIJ pain who underwent US-guided superior or inferior approach SIJ injection. Using imaging and outcomes, we developed a decision framework. RESULTS: Patients received either inferior or superior approach SIJ injections depending on location of tumor, extent of tumor invasion, and stability of the SIJ as per our framework. All patients reported improvement in pain and function without complications. CONCLUSIONS: We propose a decision framework for inferior vs. superior approach US-guided SIJ injections in the oncologic population with SIJ pain from metastases to the pelvis or sacrum. Having multiple techniques to approach the SIJ is important in the oncologic population, in whom metastatic tumor burden poses a technical challenge to performing these injections.

Successful Improvement of Pain Symptomatology in a Suspected Case of Cramp-Fasciculation Syndrome via Interventional Pain Treatment.

Peripheral nerve hyperexcitability (PNH) syndromes are a rare set of neuromuscular disorders that include cramp-fasciculation syndrome (CFS) and Isaacs syndrome (IS). Successful treatment of these diseases has been achieved with antiepileptic medications; however, chronic pain symptoms can persist. We provide a case report of a 25-year-old female who has suffered from painful severe muscle spasms and fasciculations since childhood. With CFS as our working diagnosis, a treatment regimen using interventional pain techniques, including sympathetic chain blocks, ketamine infusions, and trigger point injections, resulted in a significant decrease in the patient's chronic pain symptoms. This case offers a novel application of interventional pain procedures and may help further our understanding of PNH syndromes.