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The term refractory migraine has been used to describe persistent headache that is difficult to treat or fails to respond to standard and/or aggressive treatments. This subgroup of migraine patients are generally highly disabled and experience impaired quality of life, despite optimal treatments. Several definitions and criteria for refractory migraine have been published, but as yet, an accepted or established definition is not available. This article reviews the published criteria and proposes a new set of criteria. The epidemiology, pathophysiology and management options are also reviewed.
Learn More >Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) occurs in 5-30% of individuals with herpes zoster (HZ) and is characterized by long-lasting pain. Zoster vaccine live (ZVL) is licensed for people 50 years and older to prevent HZ and PHN. This study evaluated vaccine effectiveness (VE) of ZVL against PHN.
Learn More >The management of chronic pancreatitis (CP) is challenging and requires a personalised approach focused on the individual patient's main symptoms. Abdominal pain is the most prominent symptom in CP, where central pain mechanisms, including sensitisation and impaired pain modulation, often are involved. Recent clinical studies suggest that vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) induces analgesic effects through the modulation of central pain pathways. This study aims to investigate the effect of 2 weeks transcutaneous VNS (t-VNS) on clinical pain in patients with CP, in comparison to the effect of sham treatment.
Learn More >Inherited erythromelalgia (IEM), caused by mutations in Na1.7 channel is characterized by episodic neuropathic pain triggered especially by warm temperature. However, the mechanism underlying the temperature-dependent episodic attacks of IEM remains elusive. We investigated the electrophysiological effect of temperature changes on Na1.7 channels with three different mutations, p.I136V, p. I848T, and p.V1316A, both in vitro and in vivo. In vitro biophysical studies of the mutant channels show consistent temperature-dependent enhancement of the relative resurgent currents if normalized to the transient currents, as well as temperature-dependent changes in the time to peak and the kinetics of decay of the resurgent currents, but no congruent temperature-dependent changes in steady-state parameters such as shift of activation/inactivation curves and changes of the absolute size of the window or resurgent currents. In vivo nerve excitability tests (NET) in IEM patients reveal the essentially normal indices of NET at a single stimulus. However, there are evident abnormalities if assessed with preconditioning pulses, such as the decrease of threshold elevation in hyperpolarizing threshold electrotonus (50-100 ms), the increase of inward rectification in current-voltage curve, and the increase of refractoriness at the interpulse interval of 2-6 ms in recovery cycle, probably also implicating derangements in temperature dependence of inactivation and of recovery from inactivation in the mutant channels. The pathogenesis of heat-enhanced pain in IEM could be attributed to deranged temperature dependence of Na1.7 channels responsible for the genesis of resurgent currents.
Learn More >Trigeminal neuropathic pain is a chronic pain condition caused by damage or inflammation of the trigeminal nerve or its branches, with both peripheral and central nervous system dysfunction contributing to the disorder. Trigeminal pain conditions present with diagnostic and therapeutic challenges to healthcare providers and often require multiple therapeutic approaches for pain reduction. This review will provide the overview of pathophysiology in peripheral and central nociceptive circuits that are involved in neuropathic pain conditions involving the trigeminal nerve and the current therapeutics that are used to treat these disorders. Recent advances in treatment of trigeminal pain, including novel therapeutics that target ion channels and receptors, gene therapy and monoclonal antibodies that have shown great promise in preclinical studies and clinical trials will also be described.
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