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There is ongoing debate about whether the oculomotor (III), trochlear (IV), or abducens (VI) nerve paresis in patients with migraine is directly attributable to migraine (ophthalmoplegic migraine [OM]) or is due to an inflammatory neuropathy (recurrent painful ophthalmoplegic neuropathy [RPON]). As migraine is associated with elevated serum calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) levels, we studied serum CGRP levels among patients with OM/RPON to determine whether they are elevated during and between attacks. This is the first study assessing CGRP levels in the serum of patients with OM/RPON.

This study aimed to determine the prevalence and characteristics of primary stabbing headache in children and adolescents that presented because of headache. The medical files of 772 children and adolescents who presented with headache to the Pediatric Neurology Outpatient Clinic at Başkent University between 2012 and 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. In total, 77 patients (9.97%) with primary stabbing headache and those thought to have primary stabbing headache were included in the study. Patient data, including demographic features, headache characteristics, family history of primary headache, electroencephalographic (EEG) findings, and cranial magnetic resonane imaging (MRI) findings, were noted. Age at presentation was <6 years in 16.9% of the patients and onset time of headache was below 3 months in 55.8%. Daily headache attacks occurred in 46.8% of the patients. Headache localization was frontal in 54.5% of patients and bilateral in 68.8%, whereas the quality of headache was undefined in 40.3%. Headache attack duration was seconds long in 37.7% of the patients, attacks occurred at any time of the day in 83.1%, and 80.5% did not have accompanying symptoms. In all, 54.5% of the patients had a negative family history of primary headache. In 95.8% of the patients, EEG findings were normal and cranial MRI findings were normal in 100% of the patients. The prevalence of primary stabbing headache is not rare in children and adolescents. Clinician awareness of the diagnosis and underlying causes of primary stabbing headache should be increased.

Prostaglandin E is classically considered a major mediator of inflammatory pain, by acting on neuronal G protein-coupled EP2 and EP4 receptors. However, the neuronal EP3 receptor, colocalized with EP2 and EP4 receptor, is G protein-coupled and antagonises the pronociceptive prostaglandin E effect. Here we investigated the cellular signalling mechanisms by which the EP3 receptor reduces EP2 and EP4 receptor-evoked pronociceptive effects in sensory neurons.

Postoperative pain occurs in as many as 70% of the over 230 million surgeries performed annually worldwide. Postoperative pain management still relies on opioids despite their negative consequences, resulting in a public health crisis. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to develop alternative therapies to treat chronic pain. Natural products derived from medicinal plants are potential sources of novel and biologically active compounds for development of safe analgesics. Hence, in this study, we screened a library of natural products to identify small molecules that target the activity of voltage-gated sodium and calcium channels which have important roles in nociceptive sensory processing.

Post-orthopaedic operative pain is a serious concern that often requires the administration of analgesics; however, the optimal time of analgesic administration is still inconclusive. Perioperative analgesia is administrating pre-emptive analgesia before and during the surgery followed by postoperative analgesia to decrease the procedure associated nociceptive response. We aim to assess perioperative meloxicam versus postoperative meloxicam for pain control after orthopaedic operations.

Fascial plane blocks are a useful element for multimodal analgesia after cardiac surgery. These blocks can provide effective analgesia while circumventing serious risks associated with conventional techniques such as neuraxial hematoma and pneumothorax. This narrative review covers blocks performed at parasternal intercostal, interpectoral, pecto-serratus, serratus anterior, erector spinae, and retrolaminar planes which are targets for fascial plane blocks commonly used for cardiac surgery. Brief anatomical considerations, mechanisms, and currently available evidence were reviewed. Additionally, fascial plane blocks for implantation of subcutaneous-Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator were also reviewed.

Research has shown that a higher dose of bupivacaine administered in continuous paravertebral block (CPVB) provides a greater analgesic effect after video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). In this randomized, controlled, double-blind study, we hypothesized that 0.25% 8 ml/h of levobupivacaine administered in CPVB after VATS provides a greater analgesic effect than 0.125% 8 ml/h.

We sought to identify clinical predictors of favorable short-term outcomes associated with cervical interlaminar epidural injection (CIEI). Previous studies investigating the predictive factors of CIEI efficacy have shown inconsistent results. Gaining information on the possible response determinants of CIEI is necessary for appropriate treatment selection and outcomes prediction in the treatment of cervical radiculopathy.

The use of spinal cord stimulation for chronic pain after lumbar spine surgery is increasing, yet rigorous evidence of its efficacy is lacking.

Oxaliplatin is an antineoplastic agent frequently used in the treatment of gastrointestinal tumors. However, it causes dose-limiting sensorimotor neuropathy, referred to as oxaliplatin-induced peripheral neuropathy (OIPN), for which there is no effective treatment. Here, we report that the elevation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) is a pathological change common to both cancer patients treated with oxaliplatin and a murine model of OIPN. Mechanistically, we found that NETs trigger NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome activation and the subsequent release of IL18 by macrophages, resulting in mechanical hyperalgesia. In NLRP3-deficient mice, the mechanical hyperalgesia characteristic of OIPN in our model was reduced. In addition, in the murine model, treatment with the IL18 decoy receptor IL18BP prevented the development of OIPN. We further showed that eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) reduced NET formation by suppressing the LPS-TLR4-JNK pathway and thereby abolished NLRP3 inflammasome activation and the subsequent secretion of IL18, which markedly prevented oxaliplatin-induced mechanical hyperalgesia in mice. These results identify a role for NET-triggered NLRP3 activation and IL18 release in the development of OIPN and suggest that utilizing IL18BP and EPA could be effective treatments for OIPN.