Edited by internationally recognized pain experts, this book offers 73 clinically relevant cases, accompanied by discussion in a question-and-answer format.
Pain is one of the most common symptoms of neurological disease and its appropriate management is essential to the effective care of patients. Neurological disorders differ in their specific pain phenotype, mechanisms and therapy. Case Studies in Neurological Pain addresses the specific pain issues, treatment and pathophysiology in patients with a wide spectrum of neurological disease. Clinical case studies have long been recognized as a useful adjunct to problem-based learning and continuing professional development. They emphasize the need for clinical reasoning, integrative thinking, problem-solving, communication, teamwork and self-directed learning - all desirable generic skills for health care professionals. Presenting real-life cases - covering conditions including diabetic and idiopathic polyneuropathies, focal neuropathies, multiple sclerosis and headache disorders - this book provides neurologists, neurosurgeons, pain clinic specialists and primary care physicians with an understanding of problems encountered in neurological practice. There are also chapters on mechanisms of neurological pain and new treatment guidelines.
In this unique book, Dr. Bertorini guides you through more than 100 cases that demonstrate the diagnosis and management of a wide range of common and rare neuromuscular disorders. No other reference boasts such a large array of clinical studies devoted to all areas of this broad topic! Each case study reviews the etiologies, pathogenesis, differential diagnosis, and management of a particular disorder, helping you not only recognize its presentation, but also determine a diagnosis and the best treatment plans for your patients. You'll also find expert guidance on the basic mechanisms of neuromuscular disorders, clinical examination, and diagnostic tests—including EMG, muscle biopsy, genetic testing, and more. - More than 100 detailed case studies explore both common and rare neuromuscular disorders and the treatment protocols for each, equipping you with the knowledge you need to confidently manage any challenge. Each case includes a summary of important points or highlights of the study. - Case studies are arranged either by complaint or by diagnosis so that you can successfully manage your patients with or without an initial diagnosis. - Comprehensive coverage of EMGs and nerve conduction studies and other diagnostic tests, including muscle and nerve biopsies and genetic testing, helps you accurately diagnose nerve, muscle, and neuromuscular transmission disorders. - Detailed discussions of treatment plans and commonly used drugs enhance your management of autoimmune disorders, painful neuropathy, dysautonomia, and other neuromuscular disorders. - A reader-friendly format takes you step by step through the diagnosis and treatment of neuromuscular disorders, from the basic anatomy and physiology of the nerve and muscle through to clinical evaluation, diagnostic testing, and therapy. - More than 350 high-quality illustrations, including full-color patient photographs, biopsies, and EMG tracings, make complex concepts easier to understand and apply.
New updated edition first published with Cambridge University Press. This new edition includes 29 chapters on topics as diverse as pathophysiology of atherosclerosis, vascular haemodynamics, haemostasis, thrombophilia and post-amputation pain syndromes.
The brain is the most complex organ in our body. Indeed, it is perhaps the most complex structure we have ever encountered in nature. Both structurally and functionally, there are many peculiarities that differentiate the brain from all other organs. The brain is our connection to the world around us and by governing nervous system and higher function, any disturbance induces severe neurological and psychiatric disorders that can have a devastating effect on quality of life. Our understanding of the physiology and biochemistry of the brain has improved dramatically in the last two decades. In particular, the critical role of cations, including magnesium, has become evident, even if incompletely understood at a mechanistic level. The exact role and regulation of magnesium, in particular, remains elusive, largely because intracellular levels are so difficult to routinely quantify. Nonetheless, the importance of magnesium to normal central nervous system activity is self-evident given the complicated homeostatic mechanisms that maintain the concentration of this cation within strict limits essential for normal physiology and metabolism. There is also considerable accumulating evidence to suggest alterations to some brain functions in both normal and pathological conditions may be linked to alterations in local magnesium concentration. This book, containing chapters written by some of the foremost experts in the field of magnesium research, brings together the latest in experimental and clinical magnesium research as it relates to the central nervous system. It offers a complete and updated view of magnesiums involvement in central nervous system function and in so doing, brings together two main pillars of contemporary neuroscience research, namely providing an explanation for the molecular mechanisms involved in brain function, and emphasizing the connections between the molecular changes and behavior. It is the untiring efforts of those magnesium researchers who have dedicated their lives to unraveling the mysteries of magnesiums role in biological systems that has inspired the collation of this volume of work.
The use of case studies is vital as an educational technique in medicine, particularly to clinicians, because it illustrates current medical methodology and values. This issue includes case studies in all the major subspecialties within neurology such as headache, multiple sclerosis, sleep, dementia, movement disorders, neck and low back pain, epilepsy, cerebrovascular disease, neuro-ophthalmology, syncope, and critical care.
Neuropathic pain is one of the most common, most debilitating, most costly, and most difficult to treat categories of chronic pain conditions that are characterized by a lesion or disease of the somatosensory nervous system. Managing neuropathic pain is challenging and requires skillful assessment and comprehensive and integrated treatment strategies that are mechanism-guided, evidence-based, and individualized. However, these critical and integral elements are very fragmented in the current literature. The mechanistic understanding of neuropathic pain is typically found in basic research articles. Clinical research evidence is presented in forms of clinical trials with emphasis on minimizing biases such as those from patient selection and assessment. Individualized considerations for each patient are usually presented in case reports and problem-based learning discussions. This book overcomes these barriers and integrates all the critical elements around individual patient care into a coherent management strategy that is practical and applicable to daily clinical practice. Rather than compiling what have been published in the literature, this work emphasizes on identifying and highlighting the key points or findings that guide decision-making in clinical practice. It integrates the key points around a typical case scenario that not only represents the core of the diagnostic and therapeutic processes but also allows introduction and differentiation of painful conditions that bare similarities with the case in hand. The overarching goal is to improve clinical outcomes through better understanding of the mechanisms, more accurate diagnosis, and wiser and more comprehensive treatment strategies.
Drug overdose, driven largely by overdose related to the use of opioids, is now the leading cause of unintentional injury death in the United States. The ongoing opioid crisis lies at the intersection of two public health challenges: reducing the burden of suffering from pain and containing the rising toll of the harms that can arise from the use of opioid medications. Chronic pain and opioid use disorder both represent complex human conditions affecting millions of Americans and causing untold disability and loss of function. In the context of the growing opioid problem, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched an Opioids Action Plan in early 2016. As part of this plan, the FDA asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to convene a committee to update the state of the science on pain research, care, and education and to identify actions the FDA and others can take to respond to the opioid epidemic, with a particular focus on informing FDA's development of a formal method for incorporating individual and societal considerations into its risk-benefit framework for opioid approval and monitoring.