Pain is the body's way of warning us that harm or damage is happening, or is about to happen, to tissues in our bodies. It is estimated that 30 to 40 million Americans a year suffer from pain that does not respond to aspirin or ibuprofen. Many of these people are older adults.

Chronic Pain

Chronic pain is longstanding pain that persists beyond the usual recovery period or occurs along with a chronic health condition. Because this pain is not protective or the result of an ongoing injury, it is referred to as "pathological" and is therefore treated as a condition, not as a symptom. Chronic pain may affect people to the point that they cannot work, eat properly, participate in physical activity, or enjoy life.

The most commonly treated conditions that cause pain are trigeminal neuralgia (a form of facial pain), failed spinal surgery, phantom limb pain, stroke and headaches.

Spasticity

Spasticity is a condition in which certain muscles are continuously contracted. This contraction causes stiffness or tightness of the muscles and may interfere with walking, movement and speech.

Treatment of spasticity may include the following: baclofen, diazepam or clonazepam; muscle stretching, range of motion exercises and other physical therapy regimens to help prevent joint contractures (shrinkage or shortening of a muscle) and reduce the severity of symptoms; or surgery, including tendon release, selective dorsal rhizotomy (precise severing of the nerve-muscle pathway) and implantation of intrathecal (inside the sac of the spinal cord) catheters and pumps to deliver baclofen to the spinal cord.

Types of Treatment

• Microvascular decompression involves microsurgical exposure of the trigeminal nerve root, identification of a blood vessel that might be compressing the nerve, and gentle displacement of it away from the point of compression. "Decompression" may reduce sensitivity and allow the trigeminal nerve to recover and return to a more normal, pain-free condition.
  
  
• Radiofrequency rhizotomy involves treating trigeminal neuralgia through the use of electrocoagulation (heat). It is also used to treat pain in any area of the spine, including cervical, thoracic and lumbar regions.

Neurosurgeons at the University of Washington and at Harborview Medical Center treat chronic pain with state-of-the-art medical technology.


Content provided by UW Medicine Neurological Surgery, Seattle, Washington