Forceful sacrococcygeal injections in the treatment of postdiscectomy sciatica. A controlled study versus glucocorticoid injections.

UNLABELLED: The role of epidural fibrosis in postoperative sciatica is unclear. Few therapeutic trials have been published. We evaluated the mechanical effects of forceful saline injections through the sacrococcygeal hiatus comparatively with glucocorticoid injections. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Forty-seven patients with postdiscectomy sciatica but no evidence of compression by computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging were included in a multicenter, randomized, controlled, parallel-group study comparing forceful injections of saline (20 ml) with or without prednisolone acetate (125 mg) to epidural prednisolone acetate (125 mg) alone. Each of the three treatments was given once a month for three consecutive months. Outcome measures were pain severity on a visual analog scale (VAS) and the scores on the Dallas algofunctional self-questionnaire on day 0, day 60, and day 120. Analysis of variance for repeated measures and Student's t test for paired series were used to evaluate the data. RESULTS: Forty-seven patients were evaluated. The VAS score improved significantly between day 0 and day 30 in the glucocorticoid group as compared to the forceful injection group (P = 0.01). No other significant differences were found across the groups. The VAS score improved steadily in the forceful injection group, producing a nearly significant difference on day 120 as compared to baseline (P = 0.08). CONCLUSION: Forceful epidural injections produced a non-significant improvement in postdiscectomy sciatica four months after surgery. Epidural glucocorticoids used alone induced short-lived pain relief.

[Nervous microangiopathy and POEMS syndrome]. / Microangiopathie nerveuse et syndrome POEMS.

The authors report the case of a 40 year-old man with POEMS syndrome (peripheral neuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, M-protein and skin changes). Pathological studies of the peroneal nerve showed a microangiopathy of the vasa nervorum. Several authors have already reported microvascular abnormalities that could be responsible for some systemic manifestations of the POEMS syndrome, involving the skin, the kidney and the peripheral nerves. This new case enhances this hypothesis. The relation between microangiopathy and plasma cell dyscrasia is unknown.

[Rapid destructive arthropathy of the shoulder]. / L'arthropathie destructrice rapide de l'épaule.

Within the general context of rapid destruction of the humeral head, destructive arthropathy of the shoulder, described here in six cases, is a diagnosis of elimination. Being neither infectious inflammatory, microcrystalline, nor neurological, this curious variety of degenerative pathology of the shoulder involves the following: 1) a particular group of sufferers: women aged 65 to 81 years; 2) prior signs, at least radiological, of deterioration in the rotator cuff; 3) rapid erosive osteolysis of the head of the humerus reducing its radiological area by 25 per cent in less than six months; 4) early narrowing of the scapulo-humeral joint space (Ist to 9th month); 5) transient appearance of calcium debris in the area of the joint; 6) a synovial effusion in some cases, often bloody. The destruction phase is associated with pain lasting from two months to two years. However at the stage of stable sequelae, pain is moderate or minimal. Differential diagnosis with destructive arthropathy due to articular chondrocalcinosis and necrosis of the head of the humerus is particularly discussed. The cause of rapid destruction is unknown. It may be multifactorial: advanced age (constant), osteoporosis, fragility of articular cartilage as evidenced by multiple localizations of osteoarthrosis (4 cases out of 6), enzymes in the bloody effusion, trauma (3 cases out of 7), and intra-articular injections of corticosteroid derivatives, in particular fluorinated (3 cases out of 7) may possibly play a role.