precise pathology, the one devoted to target specificity, is discounted by many who maintain that such idealism is misplaced and does not influence outcomes. We would like to commend the authors of the article on anatomical flow patterns in the lumbar epidural space for providing further evidence that target access is critical for success (1). The authors have once again shown that parasagittal...

Six weanling rats were fed a diet containing 0.4 per cent BAPN fumarate and sacrificed after 5 to 33 days on the diet. The ascending aortae were fixed with OsO(4), embedded in methacrylate and araldite, sectioned, stained with lead hydroxide, and examined with the electron microscope. The descending thoracic aortae were examined by light microscopy. Compared with pair-fed controls, the experime...

Both N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) and quisqualate/AMPA-insensitive metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) receptors mediate plasticity induction in neocortex, but their interlaminar distribution in cortical microcircuits is largely unknown. We used (+)(3)H-MK801 and (3)H-glutamate binding plus saturating concentrations of NMDA, AMPA, and quisqualate to autoradiographically map NMDA and mGlu receptor site...

BACKGROUND The optimum operative technique for lateral lumbar disc herniations (LLDH) remains unclear, and both interlaminar and extraspinal approaches are used. OBJECTIVE To compare outcome after LLDH removal either by a lateral transmuscular approach (LTM) or by a combined interlaminar and paraisthmic approach (CIP). METHODS 28 patients underwent surgery using CIP and 20 using LTM. All pa...

BACKGROUND While chronic neck pain is a common problem in the adult population, with a typical 12-month prevalence of 30%-50%, there is a lack of consensus regarding its causes and treatment. Despite limited evidence, cervical epidural injections are one of the commonly performed nonsurgical interventions in the management of chronic neck pain. METHODS A randomized, double-blind, active, cont...

Single unit, extracellular recordings were made in the medial interlaminar nucleus (MIN) of adult cats and of kittens at 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, and 16 weeks of age. MIN is part of the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus, and nearly all of its recorded neurons are Y-cells in adult cats. We find that Y-cells in the MIN of younger kittens have long latencies to optic chiasm stimulation, large receptive fie...

conclusions the pil epidural injection is as effective as tf epidural injection in improving pain and functional status, in patients with chronic lumbosacral low back pain, due to disc degeneration. results effective pain relief [numeric rating scale (nrs) < 3] was observed in 77.3% (95% ci: 67‒90.5%) of patients in pil group and 74.2% (95% ci: 62.4 - 89.4%) of patients in the tf group (p = 0.3...

BACKGROUND Epidural steroid injections are commonly used in managing radicular pain. Most complications related to epidural injections are minor and self-limited. Flushing is considered as one such minor side effect. Flushing has been studied using various steroid preparations including methylprednisone, triamcinolone, and betamethasone but its frequency has never been studied using dexamethaso...

BACKGROUND Among the many diagnostic and therapeutic interventions available for the management of chronic pain, epidural steroid injections are one of the most commonly used modalities. The explosive growth of this technique is relevant in light of the high cost of health care in the United States and abroad, the previous literature assessing the effectiveness of epidural injections has been s...