The risk for rare but potentially catastrophic neurological injuries from epidural steroid injections (ESIs) can be substantially reduced if anesthesiologists and other clinicians follow specific safety measures, according to members of a consensus panel representing 13 national medical organizations. “We acknowledge that catastrophic neurologic injuries can and do occur during epidural steroid injections. The actual […]
Read MoreIn patients with impaired sensory discrimination, pain descriptors, localization, and pain triggers are often vague or poorly defined. At the 2017 annual meeting of the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM), James C. Watson, MD, a neurologist and professor at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, discussed the etiology, pathophysiology, and treatment of central neuropathic pain, including […]
Read MoreAnnals of Surgery · March 28, 2017 AUTHORS: Jennifer F;Cron et al OBJECTIVE: To examine the extent to which preoperative opioid use is correlated with healthcare utilization and costs following elective surgical procedures. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: Morbidity and mortality associated with prescription opioid use is escalating in the United States. The extent to which chronic opioid use […]
Read MoreBetween 1994 and 2001, the number of lumbar epidural spinal injections and facet joint interventions rose sharply among the Medicare population. At the 33rd annual meeting of the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM), Virtaj Singh, MD, clinical faculty at the University of Washington, gave the opening lecture titled “Multisociety Pain Work Group: How Societies Work Together to […]
Read MoreAnemia either before or after surgery is associated with an incremental risk for postoperative acute kidney injury, and perhaps long-term mortality, a database analysis has concluded. Although prior research identified both preoperative and postoperative anemia as potential risk factors for complications after coronary artery bypass graft surgery, their relationship with AKI had not been defined […]
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