BACKGROUND The analgesic mechanisms of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 inhibitors have been explained mainly on the basis of the inhibition of prostaglandin biosynthesis. However, several lines of evidence suggest that their analgesic effects are mediated through serotonergic or adrenergic transmissions. We investigated the roles of these neurotransmitters in the antinociception of a selective COX-2 inh...

OBJECT Intrathecally delivered baclofen has been used as a treatment for severe spasticity since 1984. Despite this, there are uncertainties surrounding the benefits of treatment and the costs involved. The authors assessed the evidence of benefits and identified costs and the cost/benefit ratio for continuous intrathecal baclofen infusion in the treatment of severe spasticity. METHODS A syst...

When isoniazid is used for the chemotherapy of tuberculous meningitis the need for intrathecal therapy is controversial. A Scottish Joint Committee (1957) concluded from a comparative trial, including both adults and children, that intrathecal streptomycin is not now an essential part of the treatment. But, in fact, all the patients reported did receive intrathecal streptomycin for at least one...

Intrathecal morphine is often used for postoperative analgesia after surgery. We performed a meta-analysis to obtain more detailed information on the frequency of side-effects in patients receiving intrathecal morphine in combination with spinal anaesthesia compared with placebo treated patients. We clustered the analysis to patients receiving placebo, less than morphine 0.3 mg (M < 0.3), or eq...

BACKGROUND Gabapentin administration into the brain of mice reduces nerve injury-induced hypersensitivity and is blocked by intrathecal atropine and enhanced by intrathecal neostigmine. The authors tested the relevance of these findings to oral therapy by examining the efficacy of oral gabapentin to reduce hypersensitivity after nerve injury in rats and its interaction with the clinically used ...

Delta-opioid receptors (DOR) are present in the superficial dorsal horn and are believed to regulate the release of small afferent transmitters as evidenced by the effects of spinally delivered delta-opioid preferring peptides. Here we examined the effects of intrathecal SNC80 [(+)-4-[α(R)-α-[(2S,5R)-4-allyl-2,5-dimethyl-1-piperazinyl]-3-(methoxybenzyl)-N,N-diethylbenzamide], a selective nonpep...

BACKGROUND Intrathecal lidocaine reverses tactile allodynia after nerve injury, but whether neuropathic pain is attenuated by intrathecal lidocaine pretreatment is uncertain. METHODS Sixty six adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three treatment groups: (1) sham (Group S), which underwent removal of the L6 transverse process; (2) ligated (Group L), which underwent left L5 spinal n...

BACKGROUND The effect of spinal adrenergic and cholinergic receptors on the anti-nociceptive effect of intrathecal ginsenosides was determined in a rat postoperative pain model. METHODS Catheters were placed into the intrathecal space of male Sprague-Dawley rats. Postoperative pain was evoked by an incision to the plantar surface of a hind paw. Withdrawal thresholds was used as a nociceptive ...

Intraspinal drug delivery (IDD) has been increasingly utilized since 1980s, initially in patients with cancer pain, and subsequently in patients with intractable, chronic, nonmaligmant pain. By infusing a small amount of opioid into the cerebrospinal fluid in close proximity to the receptor sites in the spinal cord, profound analgesia may be achieved while sparing some of the side effects due t...

AIM To investigate the effect of intrathecal anti-fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) antibodies on the mechanical allodynia and activation of spinal cord astrocytes in a rat model of neuropathic pain. MATERIAL AND METHODS Forty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 4 groups (Each group=10 rats). Group A: Spared nerve injury (SNI) model and intrathecal phosphate-buffered saline (...