A peripheral nerve stimulator (PNS) can be an alternative for long-term pain relief refractory to conventional therapeutic modalities. We present a case of chronic incapacitating ilioinguinal neuralgia, which was successfully managed with permanent implantation of a peripheral nerve stimulator. A 26-year-old active duty African American man was referred to the University Pain Clinic with left i...

BACKGROUND Arterial puncture can be a painful procedure for many patients. This study investigates whether precooling of a puncture site with ice can reduce the pain associated with arterial puncture. METHODS This was a stratified randomized controlled trial of a convenience sample of out-patients with a physician order for an arterial blood gas (ABG) test. The intervention group had a plasti...

Post-thoracotomy pain is one of the most severe types of postoperative pain. It can last up to 2 months and can become chronic in 30% of patients. Pain relief after thoracic surgery is of particular significance, not only for ethical considerations but also for reduction of postoperative pulmonary and cardiac complications. Because of the difficulty in pain control, many approaches have been su...

To the Editor: Skin biopsies usually require local anesthetic (LA). LA can cause pain and distress especially in needle phobic individuals. Cryobiopsy is an alternative to shave biopsy under LA, in that it enables the removal of a fragment of tissue without the need for LA. In this study, we assessed the level of pain in patients undergoing skin cryobiopsy as well as the tissue usefulness for h...

Ultrasound is becoming popular in anaesthetic practice because of numerous advantages. Its introduction in pain medicine is recent and its use is growing. It allows the identification of soft tissues, vessels and nerves, without the risk of radiation. The additional advantages in pain medicine are avoidance of repeated radiations and ease of use in outpatient clinics, thus saving time and decre...