[Radiofrequency denervation of the spine and the sacroiliac joint : A systematic literature search according to GRADE with new German S3 guideline]. / Radiofrequenzdenervation der Wirbelsäule und des Iliosakralgelenks : Eine systematische Literaturrecherche nach GRADE mit neuer S3-Leitlinie.

BACKGROUND: This article summarizes the results of the German guideline on radiofrequency denervation of the facet joints and the sacroiliac joint. Evidence on the indications, test blocks and technical parameters are presented. OBJECTIVE: The aim is to avoid overtreatment and undertreatment, which is also of socioeconomic importance. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A systematic evaluation of the literature was carried out according to the grading of recommendations assessment, development and evaluation (GRADE) approach. A multidisciplinary guideline group has developed recommendations and statements. RESULTS: Statements and recommendations were given for 20 key questions. There was an 87.5% consensus for 1 recommendation and 100% consensus for all other recommendations and statements. The guideline was approved by all scientific medical societies involved. Specific questions included the value of the medical history, examination and imaging, the need for conservative treatment prior to an intervention, the importance of test blocks (medial branch block and lateral branch block), choice of imaging for denervation, choice of trajectory, the possibility to influence the size of the lesion, stimulation, the possibility of revision, sedation and decision support for patients with anticoagulants, metal implants and pacemakers and advice on how to avoid complications. CONCLUSION: Selected patients can benefit from well-performed radiofrequency denervation. The guideline recommendations are based on very low to moderate quality of evidence.

[Evaluation of an early interdisciplinary multimodal assessment for patients with pain : Protocol of a randomized controlled study (PAIN2020)]. / Evaluation eines frühen interdisziplinären multimodalen Assessments für Patienten mit Schmerzen : Protokoll einer randomisierten kontrollierten Studie (PAIN2020).

Health care provision for patients with pain and risk factors for chronicity is still insufficient and characterized in particular by over-, under- and misuse of existing approaches. The PAIN2020 project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Health Care (Innovationsfonds 01NVF17049) and aims to improve health care delivery for this group of patients by implementing an early ambulatory diagnostic approach by a pain specialist, resulting in an improvement in pain and restored or maintained function. A randomized clinical trial in 31 facilities Germany-wide will identify eligible patients and guide them into early specialized pain diagnostics. The interventional arm provides an interdisciplinary multimodal assessment, delivered by pain medicine specialists, physiotherapists and clinical psychologists. The control arm contains a single assessment by a pain specialist. Patients and caregivers receive detailed recommendations for evidence-based interventions tailored to the needs of the individual patient. Two evaluation approaches will be merged. The first requires a net sample size of 3840 patients, assessed (admission) and followed-up (3 and 6 months) by clinical data (German Pain Questionnaire, additional scales) and analyzed by a multi-level approach. In a second evaluation arm the clinical data of the included patients will be supplemented by secondary data from a statutory health insurance (BARMER) and compared to a sample of policyholders not addressed by the study. Data analyses will be performed by an external evaluation institute. The project started in April 2018.

Pilot field testing of the chronic pain classification for ICD-11: the results of ecological coding.

BACKGROUND: A task force of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) has developed a classification of chronic pain for the ICD-11 consisting of seven major categories. The objective was to test whether the proposed categories were exhaustive and mutually exclusive. In addition, the perceived utility of the diagnoses and the raters' subjective diagnostic certainty were to be assessed. METHODS: Five independent pain centers in three continents coded 507 consecutive patients. The raters received the definitions for the main diagnostic categories of the proposed classification and were asked to allocate diagnostic categories to each patient. In addition, they were asked to indicate how useful they judged the diagnosis to be from 0 (not at all) to 3 (completely) and how confident they were in their category allocation. RESULTS: The two largest groups of patients were coded as either chronic primary pain or chronic secondary musculoskeletal pain. Of the 507 patients coded, 3.0% had chronic pain not fitting any of the proposed categories (97% exhaustiveness), 20.1% received more than one diagnosis. After adjusting for double coding due to technical reasons, 2.0% of cases remained (98% uniqueness). The mean perceived utility was 1.9 ± 1.0, the mean diagnostic confidence was 2.0 ± 1.0. CONCLUSIONS: The categories proved exhaustive with few cases being classified as unspecified chronic pain, and they showed themselves to be mutually exclusive. The categories were regarded as useful with particularly high ratings for the newly introduced categories (chronic cancer-related pain among others). The confidence in allocating the diagnoses was good although no training regarding the ICD-11 categories had been possible at this stage of the development.

[Multimodal therapy concepts for failed back surgery syndrome]. / Multimodale Therapiekonzepte beim Postnukleotomiesyndrom.

Failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS) is a frequent complication (15-40 %) of lumbar disc surgery and is rarely successfully treated by surgery with the exception of a re-prolapse associated with radicular pain. Multimodal pain treatment, however, is indicated by a lack of pathoanatomical correlates, unclear cause and psychosocial risk factors.This review describes a standardized non-operative treatment starting with broad interdisciplinary clarification by medical, psychological and physiotherapeutic means (assessment).If the conditions for multimodal pain therapy are met, the OPS 8­918-procedure can be applied to avoid chronic developing pain. In doing so, the already issued quality standards and guidelines for documentation should be respected.

[Multimodal pain therapy in Germany: structure and quality]. / Qualität der Schmerztherapie in Deutschland - Multimodale Schmerztherapie: Struktur und Qualität.

Multimodal Pain Management is a comprehensive treatment of complex chronic pain syndromes. In addition to medical therapy various other specialized therapeutical interventions based on the biopsychosocial model of pain origin and chronic pain development are added.Medical indications are given for patients with chronic pain syndromes, but also if there is an elevated risk of chronic pain in the early stadium of the disease and aiming at delaying the process of chronification. Multimodal pain management has been included in the official catalogue of the recognized medical procedure for day clinic units as well as for inpatients pain management. As there is still a lack of clarity and of consistency about the implementation of multimodal pain management the ad-hoc-Kommission on multimodal interdisciplinary pain management of the German Pain Society has proposed a position paper that has been worked out in a multilevel and interdisciplinary consensus process. Moreover a basic tool for documentation and quality management of pain therapy was developed by the German Pain Society (KEDOQ-Schmerz) as the data basis for nationwide, cross-sectional and independent scientific research in health services in Germany. In future KEDOQ-Schmerz will also used as a method for external quality management in chronic pain therapy in Germany.

Radiofrequency Denervation of the Spine and the Sacroiliac Joint: A Systematic Review based on the Grades of Recommendations, Assesment, Development, and Evaluation Approach Resulting in a German National Guideline.

STUDY DESIGN: Systematic review of the literature and subsequent meta-analysis for the development of a new guideline. OBJECTIVES: This manuscript summarizes the recommendations from a new clinical guideline published by the German Spine Society. It covers the current evidence on recommendations regarding the indication, test blocks and use of radiofrequency denervation. The guidelines aim is to improve patient care and efficiency of the procedure. METHODS: A multidisciplinary working group formulated recommendations based on the Grades of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) approach and the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II (AGREE II) instrument. RESULTS: 20 clinical questions were defined for guideline development, with 87.5% consensus achieved by committee members for one recommendation and 100% consensus for all other topics. Specific questions that were addressed included clinical history, examination and imaging, conservative treatment before injections, diagnostic blocks, the injected medications, the cut-off value in pain-reduction for a diagnostic block as well as the number of blocks, image guidance, the cannula trajectories, the lesion size, stimulation, repeat radiofrequency denervation, sedation, cessation or continuation of anticoagulants, the influence of metal hardware, and ways to mitigate complications. CONCLUSION: Radiofrequency (RF) denervation of the spine and the SI joint may provide benefit to well-selected individuals. The recommendations of this guideline are based on very low to moderate quality of evidence as well as professional consensus. The guideline working groups recommend that research efforts in relation to all aspects of management of facet joint pain and SI joint pain should be intensified.

Current considerations for the treatment of severe chronic pain: the potential for tapentadol.

Studies suggest that around 20% of adults in Europe experience chronic pain, which not only has a considerable impact on their quality of life but also imposes a substantial economic burden on society. More than one-third of these people feel that their pain is inadequately managed. A range of analgesic drugs is currently available, but recent guidelines recommend that NSAIDs and COX-2 inhibitors should be prescribed cautiously. Although the short-term efficacy of opioids is good, adverse events are common and doses are frequently limited by tolerability problems. There is a perceived need for improved pharmacological treatment options. Currently, many treatment decisions are based solely on pain intensity. However, chronic pain is multifactorial and this apaproach ignores the fact that different causative mechanisms may be involved. The presence of more than one causative mechanism means that chronic pain can seldom be controlled by a single agent. Therefore, combining drugs with different analgesic actions increases the probability of interrupting the pain signal, but is often associated with an increased risk of drug/drug interactions, low compliance and increased side effects. Tapentadol combines µ-opioid receptor agonism and noradrenaline reuptake inhibition in a single molecule, with both mechanisms contributing to its analgesic effects. Preclinical testing has shown that µ-opioid agonism is primarily responsible for analgesia in acute pain, whereas noradrenaline reuptake inhibition is more important in chronic pain. In clinical trials in patients with chronic pain, the efficacy of tapentadol was similar to that of oxycodone, but it produced significantly fewer gastrointestinal side-effects and treatment discontinuations. Pain relief remained stable throughout a 1-year safety study. Thus, tapentadol could possibly overcome some of the limitations of currently available analgesics for the treatment of chronic pain.

[Low back pain from an orthopedic and pain medical point of view]. / Kreuzschmerzen aus orthopädischer und schmerzmedizinischer Sicht.

Low back pain is not a diagnosis but a symptom of various causes. The differentiation between specific and non-specific low back pain is diagnostically difficult and only of limited help with regard to the further therapeutic procedure. A large proportion of the causes of low back pain are functional disorders that can be detected on the basis of clinical findings and not (or only insufficiently) by imaging procedures. Early recognition and timely adequate therapy are crucial for the prognosis of chronic low back pain. Low back pain at risk of chronicity or chronic low back pain requires early assessment and the initiation of an interdisciplinary multimodal pain therapy program (IMPT).

Acute Lumbar Back Pain.

BACKGROUND: Back pain has many causes. In Germany, about 70% of adults have at least one episode of back pain per year. METHODS: This review is based on a selective literature search and on the German National Disease Management Guideline for Low Back Pain. RESULTS: The physician taking the history from a patient with back pain should ask about the nature, onset, course, localization, and radiation of the pain and its dependence on physical activity and/or emotional stress. In the differential diagnosis, neurologic deficits and any "red flags" suggesting dangerous conditions such as spinal fracture, bacterial infection, and tumors must be ruled out. If no specific cause of the pain can be identified, no imaging studies are indicated on initial presentation. The treatment of acute, nonspecific low back pain focuses on pain relief and functional improvement. Adequate patient education and counseling are essential. Exercise therapy is no more effective than the continuation of normal daily activities. Restriction of activity, including bed rest, is of no benefit and merely prolongs recovery and the resumption of normal activity. Further diagnostic testing is indicated if there is any suspicion of a fracture, infection, or tumor. CONCLUSION: After dangerous conditions have been ruled out, low back pain can be pragmatically classified as either nonspecific or specific. More research is needed so that the diagnostic assessment and individualized treatment of acute lower back pain can be further refined.