Open AccessLong term study on the effects of microsurgical DREZotomy for chronic pain control
Author(s) -
Fayçal Aichaoui,
A. Khelifa,
M. Al-Zekri,
Walid Bennabi,
Sid Abderahman Myara,
Abdelhalim Morsli
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
romanian neurosurgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2344-4959
pISSN - 1220-8841
DOI - 10.33962/roneuro-2020-042
Subject(s) - medicine , anesthesia , visual analogue scale , analgesic , surgery , chronic pain , pain control , physical therapy
The DREZotomy (Dorsal Root Entry Zone tomy) is an analgesic procedure. The analgesic effect is evaluated on 30 patients with chronic pain resulting from respectively: brachial plexus avulsion (66.6%), postherpetic pain (10%), hyperspastic states (6.6%), phantom pain (6.6%), the pain in the stump (6.6%), and spinal cord injuries (3.3%). Pain intensity was evaluated using a visual analogue scale (VAS). At last evaluation, between 12 and 60 months, after DREZotomy, 93% had a good or excellent global pain relief after surgery. According to the component types of pain, 9.6% of patients had good or excellent control of the paroxysmal pain, and 84% of the continuous pain. Kaplan–Meier prediction of lasting global pain control at 60 months of follow-up was calculated at 75.5%. Comparison of the 2 corresponding Kaplan–Meier curves at long term, namely, pain control in 82.8% for the paroxysmal component and in 51.7% for the continuous component, showed a statistically significant difference (P < 0.0001). Functional effects are improved by more than 70% according to patients.