BACKGROUND One of the potential side effects with radiofrequency ablation (RFA) includes painful cutaneous dysesthesias and increased pain due to neuritis or neurogenic inflammation. This pain may require the prescription of opioids or non-opioid analgesics to control post-procedural pain and discomfort. OBJECTIVES The goal of this study is to compare post-procedural pain scores and post-proc...

OBJECTIVES Synovitis in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is assessed clinically by the presence of joint tenderness and swelling. Synovial thickening and increased vascularity may also be detected by high-resolution ultrasonography (US) and power Doppler (PD). This study investigated the relationship between clinical and sonographic features of synovial disease utilizing US, PD and the contrast agent ...

Diagnostic nerve blocks: The popularity of neural blockade as a diagnostic tool in painful conditions, especially in the spine, is due to features like the unspecific character of spinal pain, the irrelevance of radiological findings and the purely subjective character of pain. It is said that apart from specific causes of pain and clear radicular involvement with obvious neurological deficits ...

OBJECTIVE Camptodactyly-arthropathy-coxa-vara-pericarditis (CACP) syndrome is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutations in PRG4 gene that encodes for proteoglycan 4, the main lubricant for joints and tendon surfaces. It is a non-inflammatory arthropathy, characterized by joint effusions and synovial hypertrophy. So far, there is no effective treatment for this disorder. To evaluate th...

A 48-year-old man was referred to our unit for assessment of recurring episodes of painful torticollis. Family and past histories were unremarkable. There was no traumatic antecedent. During the previous three years he had experienced several episodes of torticollis and painful cervical movements without radiculopathy. His neurological examination was normal, except for a head tilt, decrease ra...

Osteoarthritis (OA), also erroneously called degenerative joint disease, represents failure of a diarthrodial joint. In idiopathic OA, the most common form of the disease, no predisposing factor is apparent. Secondary OA is pathologically indistinguishable from idiopathic OA, but is attributable to an underlying cause, such as trauma or metabolic and endocrine diseases.1 Major trauma and repeti...

Diagnostic ultrasound (US) is noninvasive, non-ionisating and cost-effective imaging diagnostic technique. It has emerged as a useful imaging modality for the diagnosis of joint and soft tissue pathology. The shoulder is probably the most frequently analyzed joint. Diagnostic US can be considered as an extension of physical examination and has better sensitivity and specificity for the detectio...

Osteoarthritis (OA) is associated with increased mechanical damage to joint cartilage. We have previously found that extracellular superoxide dismutase (ECSOD) is decreased in OA joint fluid and cartilage, suggesting oxidant damage may play a role in OA. We explored the effect of forced running as a surrogate for mechanical damage in a transgenic mouse with reduced ECSOD tissue binding. Transge...

BACKGROUND Radiofrequency neurolysis is a common technique used in the treatment of chronic pain, particularly facet (zygapophyseal joint) arthralgia. A needle-like cannula is insulated except for the exposed active tip, which is positioned as parallel and adjacent as possible to the targeted nerve branch. Via an inserted probe connected to a radiofrequency generator, energy flowing from the ti...