Mahmoodlundberg4603

What is a physician to do when the tools in his toolbox fail him? In the field of chronic pain, we are told that imaging studies are often so non-specific as to barely distinguish between symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals. "Advanced pain management techniques and off-label use of popular pain medicines do not withstand the rigors of controlled clinical trials and in many cases have been shown to be harmful. find more We are informed by the CDC that we are in the midst of a deadly "physician-driven" epidemic of prescribed opioid use disorder. The British Medical Society refers to "our silent addicts" explaining that pregabalin is the "new valium". The manufacturers of oxycodone, pregabalin and duloxetine have been successfully sued for up to $650 million for having overstated the benefits and understated the risks of their products. There has been a huge accumulation of scientific literature over 30 years demonstrating that pain-related beliefs, attitudes and behaviors are the most powerful predictors of outcome more so than depression, anxiety, PTSD or personality type. All this confusion begs for a change of approach and treatment platform. This article wishes to introduce the reader to a different set of safer, more evidence-based tools to consider when faced with a problematic chronic pain patient.Remote monitoring (RM) of patients with cardiovascular implantable electronic devices (CIED) offers clinical benefits by providing early alert for system failure and actionable changes in patient health. Professional societies recommend utilization of RM for CIED patients (Level of recommendation I Level of evidence A). It must be emphasized that RM technology does not provide continuous monitoring but rather "remote snapshot clinics". On the other hand, pacemakers (PCM) and implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICD) are designed to work automatically and continuously without any need for immediate external intervention. Therefore, the guidelines recommend that the clinical response to RM notification will take place during the normal office hours. With appropriate organization, the utilization of RM will save a significant number of unnecessary pacemaker clinic visits and will allow better utilization of healthcare resources on patients in whom early intervention may prevent hospitalization, complication and mortality. The guidelines recommend offering RM to all patients with CIED. In Israel however, RM is offered sporadically only to a few patients. If a patient will suffer from delayed or inadequate treatment due to lack of RM, grave ethical and legal consequences may occur. Follow-up of CIED patients utilizing RM should be performed by a team including a primary physician, primary cardiologist, electrophysiologist, nurses and CIED technologist working in concert utilizing modern information technologies. Data should be shared electronically (with strict data security protocols) utilizing the electronic patient file with secure connection to RM systems. In summary, we believe that RM should be offered to all CIED patients in Israel.Spinal cord injury (SCI) etiology can be either traumatic or non-traumatic. Non-traumatic SCI is of growing importance, with studies indicating increased incidence, partly because of population aging. Approximately 9% of these injuries are secondary to an infectious cause. SCI has significant implications on the patient's quality of life. A successful rehabilitation process focuses on maximizing independence and setting achievable goals according to the patient's needs and desires. The medical staff should be familiar with the natural history of such injuries while taking into consideration the existing support systems available to the patient and minimizing the damage to life cycles as best possible with the aid of a transdisciplinary team approach. In this article, we will review the main viral causes of SCI injury. We will discuss the epidemiology, clinical aspects and the unique meanings of this subgroup in the rehabilitation process.Placenta accrete spectrum (PAS) is a complicated obstetrical condition arising from abnormal implantation of the placenta into the myometrium. The placenta might partially or completely adhere to the myometrium and in rare cases invade adjacent organs (placenta percreta). The abnormal placentation might cause life-threatening hemorrhages during pregnancy and birth, increasing maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity. Detachment of the placenta after delivery in PAS might be difficult and requires manual removal of the placenta as well as advanced surgical procedures in more serious cases. In the past decades, several studies have demonstrated that removing the uterus while the placenta is still in situ avoided massive hemorrhage. However, in some cases, preserving the uterus and the fertility of the patient is desired and therefore advanced surgical procedures have been developed. Several techniques for uterine preserving procedures have been described conservative management - closing the uterus while the placenta is still in situ and complementary procedures to remove the placenta, using interventional radiology to reduce the blood supply to the uterus and other surgical approaches to reduce the blood supply to the uterus. In this article we will review the different methods for uterine preserving techniques in treating advanced cases of PAS and propose a surgical protocol for such a method we use in our medical center.Small fiber polyneuropathy (SFPN) is associated with a variety of clinical conditions. Common to these conditions is the deviation from healthy physiological homeostatic balance, which hinders small fiber neurons viability, resulting in their damage. The most common cause for SFPN in the western world is diabetes, followed by a long list of other risk-factors, some are age-related. Accumulating evidence suggests that in young patients a leading cause (up-to 50% of cases) is autoimmune-related. A variety of symptoms can be seen in SFPN. Commonly, first to appear are sensory symptoms in the extremities. Autonomic symptoms can then join, or even be the presenting symptoms. This sensory-autonomic combination can have a dramatic mal-effect on the patient's quality of life. Diagnosis is based primarily on skin biopsy and/or Autonomic-Functional-Testing. Often, in cases where no etiology is identified, EMG is normal and the skin biopsy/autonomic testing is not performed, clinicians tend to incorrectly diagnose a non-organic situation.