Rejected

Chronic Intestinal Pseudo-obstruction (CIPO) is a rare but debilitating and severe form of gastrointestinal dysmotility. The diagnosis is often made very late in the disease course due to its rarity and complexity. Treatment is mainly supportive, as there is no definitive cure. Pharmacologic therapy comprises prokinetics, antibiotics for bacterial overgrowth and pain management. Pain can also be alleviated with intestinal decompression in selected cases. Beside the pharmacologic therapy, nutrition and fluid replacement play a key role. Rarely, intestinal transplantation is necessary in patients with CIPO and intestinal failure. In this review, we describe an advanced CIPO case and provide an update of the clinical and diagnostic features and current management strategies. The goal of our review is to raise awareness around CIPO and to give practical guidance for the clinician.

As generalized pruritus can be a symptom of a systemic disease, iron deficiency may be the underlying internal cause of its symptoms. Because data on the relationship between iron deficiency and generalized chronic pruritus are limited, more research is needed to ensure proper diagnosis and management.

Headache is common in the puerperium, with a wide variety of underlying aetiologies. We describe a unique case of postpartum headache after accidental dural puncture with a Tuohy needle in a previously healthy woman during a combined spinal-epidural for labour analgesia. Initially, a post-dural puncture headache was diagnosed. Eclampsia was subsequently suspected after the development of complex partial seizures and proteinuria 5 days postpartum. After neurological examination and neuroimaging, however, the diagnoses of reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome and posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome were confirmed. We hypothesise that accidental dural puncture which resulted in post-dural puncture headache may have delayed the diagnosis of other headache aetiologies and may have acted as a trigger for the development of cerebral vasospasm syndromes. This case demonstrates the importance of a careful assessment of postpartum headaches and the need for a high degree of diagnostic suspicion in cases of refractory post-dural puncture headache. In these cases, neurological referral and neuroimaging evaluation should be considered. We highlight the importance of multidisciplinary team including anaesthetists, obstetricians and other clinicians.

Chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain (CINP) is intractable, and spinal cannabinoid receptors (CBRs) are potential therapeutic targets for CINP. Previous studies demonstrated that hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) may contribute in alleviating specific peripheral neuropathic pain. However, neither CINP nor CBR have been clarified. We hypothesized that HBO2 is capable of alleviating CINP, and the effect could be explained by the activation of spinal CBRs.

Prinzmetal angina is one of the causes of acute coronary syndromes, the exact etiology of which is still unknown. Here we introduce a 27-year-old man with no history of cardiovascular disease, with a history of hospitalization due to acute pericarditis in the previous month, who was discharged with a good response to ibuprofen treatment but had clinical and electrocardiographically recurrence of pericarditis with compressive retrosternal chest pain and electrocardiogram (ECG) changes in favor of acute infero-postero-right ventricular (RV) myocardial infarction (MI). Treatment with vasodilator improved compressive retrosternal chest pain and reversed acute myocardial infarction changes completely and left pleuritic chest pain and pericarditis changes in the ECG. Due to the typical chest pain, he was admitted to the emergency room; ECG revealed generalized ST-segment elevation with acute pericarditis pattern again. Acute infero-posterior and right ventricular acute myocardial infarction pattern was also evident. After treatment with nitroglycerin in the Critical Cardiac Unit (CCU), all ECG ischemic changes returned to baseline, and pericarditis remained in all leads. The patient was discharged with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), calcium channel blockers, and a good general condition.

To compare the suitability of Graded Chronic Pain Scale (GCPS) pain intensity and interference assessments (GCPS version 1.0 vs 2.0) for the biopsychosocial screening and subtyping of Finnish tertiary care referral patients with TMD pain.

Glioblastoma (GB) is the most common malignant tumor of the brain. Most of these tumors are primary or GBs that manifest rapidly with initial presentations such as headache, new-onset epileptic seizure, focal neurological deficits, and altered mental status. The typical radiological features of GB include strong contrast enhancement, central necrosis, and edema with mass effect. Herein, we describe two cases of primary GB – two women aged 60 and 51 years who were diagnosed with GB 3.5 and 4 months, respectively, after their initial admission. These patients presented with right-sided headaches, and their neurological examination was within the normal limits. Their initial radiological investigations revealed no suspicious lesions, either on T1-weighted or T2-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) images. The 60-year-old patient was readmitted with persistent headache, and her T1-weighted MR images revealed a well-demarcated mass lesion in the right temporal lobe with strong contrast enhancement. Moreover, the T2-weighted MR images revealed closed sulci and swollen midline structures because of edema. The 51-year-old patient was readmitted with persistent headache, and her MR image revealed a mass lesion with heterogeneous contrast enhancement and necrosis on T1-weighted images and hyperintense areas with severe edema on T2-weighted images. The patients underwent craniotomy and gross total tumor resection. Notably, in both cases, the lesions were pathologically diagnosed as GB. Therefore, it should be borne in mind that only persistent headache could be a sentinel sign of GB before it becomes radiologically visible, thereby emphasizing the need for follow-up imaging studies at short intervals.

Central sensitization syndromes (CSS) comprise an overlapping group of clinical conditions with the core feature of "pain arising as a direct consequence of a lesion or disease affecting the somatosensory system." Patients with CSS are known to have challenging interactions with healthcare providers contributing to psychological distress and increased healthcare utilization. CSS symptom severity has been associated with psychologic comorbidities, but little is known about how symptom severity relates to provider interactions.

Physical inactivity is a vital risk factor for the development and maintenance of chronic ill-health conditions among older adults. This study examined personal factors associated with physical activity (PA) behavior of urban-dwelling older adults in Sri Lanka, a middle-income country in South Asia. A total of 880 older adults (aged ≥60 years) participated in this cross-sectional study. They responded to anthropometrical, health, and socio-demographic data pertaining to their current physical and behavioral status. The mean age of the participants was 70.1 years ( ±6.0), and the majority (75%) were women. Increasing age, male gender, middle income, having cardiovascular diseases or arthritis, deficiencies in muscle strength and balance, pain, and lower self-rated health were associated with insufficient PA behavior among the participants. Old-age physical activity promotion programs should target older adults in advanced ages and men in particularly, as they are highly vulnerable to sedentary lifestyles. Muscle strength and balance, a neglected area in PA promotion in older adults, seem to play an important role in older adults' participation in physical activities. Incorporation of pain management, and muscle strength and balance techniques into older adults' PA promotion programs would probably increase adherence rates of the participants in such programs.