Neuropathic pain in spinal cord injury:topical analgesics as a possible treatment

STUDY DESIGN: Review of the literature and semi-structured interviews. OBJECTIVE: To explore the possible use of topical analgesics for the treatment of neuropathic pain (NP) in spinal cord injury (SCI). SETTING: Institute for Neuropathic Pain, Soest, The Netherlands. METHODS: A review was performed of studies on topical analgesics for SCI-related NP published up to May 2019. In addition, eight persons with SCI-related NP who were treated with topical analgesics were interviewed in a semi-structured interview on their experience with topical analgesics. RESULTS: Seven studies (five case reports and two case series) were found that evaluated the use of topical analgesics for SCI-related NP. None of the studies used a control treatment. Topical analgesics included baclofen, ketamine, lidocaine, capsaicin, and isosorbide dinitrate. All studies reported a decrease in NP over time. Persons interviewed were 49-72 years of age and all but one had an incomplete SCI. They used topical agents containing phenytoin, amitriptyline, baclofen, ketamine or loperamide. All showed a decrease in pain of at least 3 points on the 11-point numeric rating scale during this treatment. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS: Evidence on the use of topical analgesics in SCI is scarce. Case reports, case series and interviews suggest that the use of topical analgesics can be beneficial in treating SCI-related NP. Placebo-controlled studies are required to investigate the effect of topical analgesics on SCI-related NP

Report of a Subcommittee on the Nomenclature of n-Dimensional Crystallography. II. Symbols for arithmetic crystal classes, Bravais classes and space groups

International audienceThe Second Report of the Subcommittee on the Nomenclature of n-Dimensional Crystallography recommends specific symbols for R-irreducible groups in 4 and higher dimensions (nD), for centrings, for Bravais classes, for arithmetic crystal classes and for space groups (space-group types). The relation with higher-dimensional crystallographic groups used for the description of aperiodic crystals is brie ̄y discussed. The Introduction discusses the general definitions used in the Report