Treatment Disparities in Hispanic Patients with Chronic Pain: An Evidence-Based Narrative Review.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The purpose of this narrative review is to summarize healthcare disparities experienced by Hispanic and Latino/Latinx patients with chronic pain, evaluate the existing literature exploring the specific therapeutic inequities affecting this patient population, and identify gaps in the literature requiring future study. RECENT FINDINGS: Hispanic and Latino/Latinx patients experience disparities in chronic pain management. They are less likely to be prescribed pharmacologic therapies, including non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and opioids. Hispanic and Latino/Latinx patients are also less likely to receive spinal cord stimulators and may be charged higher costs for them. There are no published studies specifically assessing Hispanic and Latino/Latinx patients' utilization and outcomes from other common interventional pain procedures (e.g., epidural steroid injections, radiofrequency ablation). Limited data suggest non-pharmacologic treatments, such as cognitive behavioral therapy and complementary/integrative health modalities, might have more benefit for this population, potentially because of greater utilization. Hispanic and Latino/Latinx patients experience disparities in chronic pain management. There is a paucity of data available pertaining specifically to pain-related outcomes and the utilization of pain treatment modalities, especially in regard to interventional procedures. Additional research is urgently needed in order to understand the full extent of these disparities and develop solutions to provide more equitable care.

Sleep as a Therapeutic Target for Pain Management.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The purpose of this review is to provide a summary of the utilization of sleep as a therapeutic target for chronic pain and to evaluate the recent literature on current and proposed pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic sleep interventions used in the management of pain disorders. RECENT FINDINGS: Sleep is a promising therapeutic target in the treatment of pain disorders with both non-pharmacologic and pharmacologic therapies. Non-pharmacologic therapies include cognitive behavioral therapy and sensory-based therapies such as pink noise, audio-visual stimulation, and morning bright light therapy. Pharmacologic therapies include melatonin, z-drugs, gabapentinoids, and the novel orexin antagonists. However, more research is needed to clarify if these therapies can improve pain specifically by improving sleep. There is a vast array of investigational opportunities in sleep-targeted therapies for pathologic pain, and larger controlled, prospective trials are needed to fully elucidate their efficacy.

Utilization of Prophylactic Antibiotics After Nasal Packing for Epistaxis.

BACKGROUND: There have been few investigations examining the benefits, consequences, and patterns of use for prophylactic antibiotics for nasal packing in the emergency department setting. Given the frequency of epistaxis in the emergency department, it is an ideal setting to study the efficacy and utilization patterns of prophylactic antibiotics in nasal packing. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to assess both rates of utilization and evidence of benefit for prophylactic antibiotics in patients with nasal packing for epistaxis. METHODS: A single-institution retrospective review of 275 cases of anterior nasal packing in an urban emergency department between September 2013 and April 2017 was performed. Chi-square statistical analysis was used to evaluate results. RESULTS: Among 275 cases studied, there were no instances of toxic shock syndrome. Roughly 73% of patients with nonabsorbable packing received prophylactic antibiotics. Only one (1.1%) case of sinusitis was noted among the nonabsorbable packing with prophylaxis group, with no such complication in the nonprophylaxis group. In contrast, 95% of patients with absorbable nasal packing were not given prophylactic antibiotics. Analysis of all cases given prophylactic antibiotics vs. no prophylaxis, regardless of packing type, revealed no statistically significant difference in the development of acute sinusitis (1% vs. 0.56%; p = 0.6793). CONCLUSIONS: There was no observed advantage or disadvantage to using prophylactic antibiotics in anterior nasal packing in the emergency department, regardless of whether patients received absorbable or nonabsorbable packing. However, patients who receive nonabsorbable nasal packing were more likely to receive antibiotic prophylaxis.

Spontaneous bilateral internal carotid and vertebral artery dissections with dominant-hemisphere circulation maintained by external carotid artery-ophthalmic artery anastomoses.

Spontaneous cervical artery dissection (sCAD) is a major cause of stroke in young adults. Multiple sCAD is a rarer, more poorly understood presentation of sCAD that has been increasingly attributed to cervical trauma such as spinal manipulation or genetic polymorphisms in extracellular matrix components. The authors present the case of a 49-year-old, otherwise healthy woman, who over the course of 2 weeks developed progressive, hemodynamically significant, bilateral internal carotid artery and vertebral artery dissections. Collateral response involved extensive external carotid artery-internal carotid artery anastomoses via the ophthalmic artery, which were instrumental in maintaining perfusion because circle of Willis and leptomeningeal anastomotic responses were hampered by the dissection burden in the corresponding collateral vessels. Endovascular intervention by placement of Pipeline embolization devices and Atlas stents in bilateral internal carotid arteries was successfully performed. No syndromic or systemic etiology was discovered during a thorough workup.

Uncomplicated epidural removal in a patient on a therapeutic heparin infusion: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Unanticipated postoperative thrombotic complications can occur in complex patients who receive preoperative epidurals. Therefore, it is imperative that we consider the risks and benefits of epidural management in the setting of therapeutic anticoagulation. We present a case of epidural catheter removal on a heparin infusion, due to the extreme risk of holding anticoagulation for any duration. CASE REPORT: A woman with hilar cholangiocarcinoma presented after uncomplicated hepatectomy, bile duct resection and hepaticojejunostomy, with a thoracic epidural for analgesia. On postoperative day 1, she developed a total portal vein thrombosis, requiring emergent open thrombectomy, transhepatic stenting and high-dose heparin infusion while the epidural was indwelling. The patient was deemed to have a profound risk of re-thrombosis if heparin were paused. Therefore, a multidisciplinary discussion between hepatobiliary surgery, critical care, neurosurgery, haematology, acute pain service and the patient's family ensued regarding epidural management. Options included catheter-directed thrombolytics to her stent while holding systemic anticoagulation, sterilely leaving the epidural catheter in place indefinitely, injecting prothrombotic agent into the epidural prior to removal, or removing the catheter without holding anticoagulation. Due to the risk of re-thrombosis in the portal vein and liver infarction, the heparin infusion was decreased to achieve the lowest therapeutic anti-Xa level, and the epidural was removed. The patient was continuously monitored in the intensive care unit without any adverse events. CONCLUSION: A multidisciplinary discussion is paramount to weigh the risk of epidural haematoma if a catheter is removed on therapeutic anticoagulation against catastrophic thrombosis if anticoagulation is paused.

Mapping Cortical Integration of Sensory and Affective Pain Pathways.

Pain is an integrated sensory and affective experience. Cortical mechanisms of sensory and affective integration, however, remain poorly defined. Here, we investigate the projection from the primary somatosensory cortex (S1), which encodes the sensory pain information, to the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a key area for processing pain affect, in freely behaving rats. By using a combination of optogenetics, in vivo electrophysiology, and machine learning analysis, we find that a subset of neurons in the ACC receives S1 inputs, and activation of the S1 axon terminals increases the response to noxious stimuli in ACC neurons. Chronic pain enhances this cortico-cortical connection, as manifested by an increased number of ACC neurons that respond to S1 inputs and the magnified contribution of these neurons to the nociceptive response in the ACC. Furthermore, modulation of this S1→ACC projection regulates aversive responses to pain. Our results thus define a cortical circuit that plays a potentially important role in integrating sensory and affective pain signals.

Laryngeal distribution of adult-onset recurrent respiratory papillomatosis: A longitudinal study.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: To describe recurrence patterns in patients with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP) following surgical intervention. STUDY DESIGN: Single-center, retrospective, longitudinal case series. METHODS: Initial and follow-up laryngoscopic examinations of seven previously untreated adult-onset RRP patients were reviewed. Patients were followed longitudinally for periods ranging from 3 months to 7 years. Lesion locations were recorded using a twenty-one region laryngeal schematic, and maps were generated to illustrate the distribution of disease before and after cold-knife or potassium-titanyl-phosphate laser intervention. Univariate and multivariate analyses were employed to examine variables affecting recurrence patterns. RESULTS: Across all patients, a statistically significant correlation between initial distribution and primary recurrence was observed. Seventy-five percent of new lesions were adjacent to regions with preexisting disease; 83% of new glottic lesions were adjacent to preexisting glottic lesions, and 66% of supraglottic lesions were adjacent to preexisting supraglottic regions. No statistically significant differences in recurrence rate were observed across sites. CONCLUSIONS: In previously untreated patients with adult-onset recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, lesions tended to recur either in the same regions or regions adjacent to those affected at the time of initial surgery. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4 Laryngoscope, 129:1993-1997, 2019.

Ineffectiveness of magnetic resonance imaging enhancement to predict fibroid volume reduction after uterine artery embolization.

Fibroid nonenhancement is considered a relative contraindication to uterine artery embolization (UAE) for symptomatic fibroids. This retrospective study assessed the impact of UAE on nonenhancing fibroids to determine imaging predictors of fibroid shrinkage. All women who underwent UAE for symptomatic fibroids between May 2009 and July 2014 and had follow-up magnetic resonance imaging 6 months after UAE were included. There were 59 fibroids (5 nonenhancing, 54 enhancing) among 18 women aged 40 to 53 (mean 46) years. All fibroids were assessed for size, position, and enhancement on subtraction and apparent diffusion constant (ADC) images. Enhancing fibroids had an average decrease in diameter of 19% ± 3%, not significantly different than nonenhancing fibroids, which decreased 23% ± 6% (P = 0.49). Multiple linear regression with percent change in fibroid diameter as the dependent variable and patient age, fibroid position, and pre-UAE fibroid diameter, enhancement, and ADC as independent variables showed that ADC (P = 0.04) and pre-UAE diameter (P = 0.03) were the only significant independent variables. In conclusion, pre-UAE size and ADC, but not contrast enhancement, predicted fibroid diameter reduction. Enhancing and nonenhancing fibroids had a similar size reduction after UAE. Nonenhancement should not be considered a contraindication to UAE.