introduction: tonsillectomy is the one of the most common types of surgery in children, and is often accompanied by post-operative pain and discomfort. methods of pain control such as use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (nsaids), narcotics, and local anesthetics have been used, but each have their own particular side effects. in this study we investigated the effect of ketamine on post...

Spasticity is a common disabling disorder that occurs from 17 to 43% in patients with stroke affecting both the upper and the lower limb [1-4]. If left untreated, it can hamper functional outcome by promoting persistent abnormal posture that in turn produces muscular-tendon contractures and bone deformity. Several functional limitations arise from spasticity including impaired movement, hygiene...

BACKGROUND Unlike delayed pain syndrome, acute central pain is a very rare symptom in acute stroke. In addition, the incidence of hemiballismus in acute cerebrovascular diseases is less than 1%. To our knowledge, the association of these 2 clinical conditions has not been previously described. PATIENT AND METHODS After observing one patient with hemiballismus accompanied by ipsilateral acute ...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Central neuropathic pain is an important and disabling but often neglected problem following central nervous system lesions. The present review highlights recent advances in the understanding of the underlying mechanisms and in the diagnosis and treatment of central pain. RECENT FINDINGS Within the past year, the field of central pain has moved toward a more integrative unde...

There is increasing recognition of the involvement of the immune signaling molecule, tumor necrosis factor (TNF), in the pathophysiology of stroke and chronic brain dysfunction. TNF plays an important role both in modulating synaptic function and in the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain. Etanercept is a recombinant therapeutic that neutralizes pathologic levels of TNF. Brain imaging has demonstr...

There is increasing recognition of the involvement of the immune signaling molecule, tumor necrosis factor (TNF), in the pathophysiology of stroke and chronic brain dysfunction. TNF plays an important role both in modulating synaptic function and in the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain. Etanercept is a recombinant therapeutic that neutralizes pathologic levels of TNF. Brain imaging has demonstr...

OBJECTIVE To study the occurrence of shoulder subluxation, shoulder pain in stroke patients and identify factors associated to these conditions during rehabilitation period. MATERIAL AND METHOD Stroke patients from 9 rehabilitation centers from March to December 2006 were enrolled in the present study. All subjects were registered for demographic data including risk factors and type of stroke...

BACKGROUND Mirror therapy is used to improve motor function after stroke. During mirror therapy, a mirror is placed in the patient's midsagittal plane, thus reflecting movements of the non-paretic side as if it were the affected side. OBJECTIVES To summarise the effectiveness of mirror therapy for improving motor function, activities of daily living, pain and visuospatial neglect in patients ...

Accumulating evidence over last several years indicates an important role of microglial cells in the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain. Signal transduction in microglia under chronic pain states has begun to be revealed. We will review the evidence that p38 MAPK is activated in spinal microglia after nerve injury and contributes importantly to neuropathic pain development and maintenance. We wil...

Botulinum toxin type A (BTX-A) has been used to treat several neurological conditions such as sialorrhea, hyperhydrosis, dystonia, hemifacial spasm, spasticity and pain. Although spasticity has been successfully treated with BTX-A, few are the authors studying the use of BTX-A to treat shoulder pain secondary to stroke. In order to study if BTX-A is effective to treat post-stroke shoulder pain,...