Surgical Management of Migraine Headaches

Although migraines are experienced by a significant portion of the population, current medical therapies often fail to completely alleviate the symptoms of many migraine sufferers, leading to significant residual disability. Within the last decade, migraine surgery has arisen as a viable option for patients who have exhausted all other medical treatments. Despite early resistance in the headache care community, it has become more accepted due to an increasing number of studies demonstrating efficacy and safety, and increasing evidence supporting the influence of peripheral nerves in the progression of migraine pathophysiology. Yet, it remains crucial to carefully select appropriate surgical candidates based on the assessment of various factors such as medication use, pain distribution, and any other medical conditions that may contribute to headache. It is equally important to ensure that the patient has a strong relationship with a neurologist for optimal medical management and postoperative medical support. After the appropriate trigger sites are identified, various techniques can be used to decompress the involved larger nerves, avulse the smaller nerves, and address any intranasal pathology that could be causing migraines

Management of Migraine Headaches: OnabotulinumtoxinA Injection

Chronic migraines are a common debilitating headache disorder. Recently, there has been increasing interest in the use of onabotulinumtoxinA as a preventative treatment, as studies have shown significant benefits. In line with current accepted theories on the pathophysiology of migraines, the toxin works by both direct and indirect means to prevent peripheral and central nerve sensitization. While efficacy has been established, the technique for extracranial delivery of onabotulinumtoxinA continues to see changes in an effort to seek better outcomes. The PREEMPT injection protocol is the original injection paradigm design targeting broad muscle groups. The ART injection paradigm offers the ability to deliver onabotulinumtoxinA closer to culprit nerves, thus increasing its effect and also decreasing adverse effects. OnabotulinumtoxinA is an effective and well-tolerated option for selective patients seeking relief from migraine headaches

Effects of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome on Dexterous Manipulation Are Grip Type-Dependent

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) impairs sensation of a subset of digits. Although the effects of CTS on manipulation performed with CTS-affected digits have been studied using precision grip tasks, the extent to which CTS affects multi-digit force coordination has only recently been studied. Whole-hand manipulation studies have shown that CTS patients retain the ability to modulate multi-digit forces to object mass, mass distribution, and texture. However, CTS results in sensorimotor deficits relative to healthy controls, including significantly larger grip force and lower ability to balance the torques generated by the digits. Here we investigated the effects of CTS on multi-digit force modulation to object weight when manipulating an object with a variable number of fingers. We hypothesized that CTS patients would be able to modulate digit forces to object weight. However, as different grip types involve the exclusive use of CTS-affected digits (‘uniform’ grips) or a combination of CTS-affected and non-affected digits (‘mixed’ grips), we addressed the question of whether ‘mixed’ grips would reduce or worsen CTS-induced force coordination deficits. The former scenario would be due to adding digits with intact tactile feedback, whereas the latter scenario might occur due to a potentially greater challenge for the central nervous system of integrating ‘noisy’ and intact tactile feedback. CTS patients learned multi-digit force modulation to object weight regardless of grip type. Although controls exerted the same total grip force across all grip types, patients exerted significantly larger grip force than controls but only for manipulations with four and five digits. Importantly, this effect was due to CTS patients’ inability to change the finger force distribution when adding the ring and little fingers. These findings suggest that CTS primarily challenges sensorimotor integration processes for dexterous manipulation underlying the coordination of CTS-affected and non-affected digits

Effect of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome on Trial-to-Trial Adaptation to Object Mass-Sensorimotor Integration for Multi-Digit Grasping

A Thesis submitted to The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Medicine.Introduction/Objective: Somatosensory feedback from the fingertips is integrated with voluntary control of hand muscles in order to successfully grip objects. This integration can be disrupted in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) and lead to dropping objects. This raises the question of how the central nervous system (CNS) integrates sensory information from CTS-affected and non-affected digits. The primary objective was to use CTS as a model to understand mechanisms underlying sensorimotor integration responsible for whole-hand griping of objects with a changing mass. CTS patients should be able to modulate digit forces to object weight, however, as different grip types involve the exclusive use of CTS-affected digits or a combination of CTS-affected and non-affected digits, we hypothesize sensorimotor deficits to be larger for grips involving the coordination of CTS-affected and non-affected digits. Methods: Sixteen CTS patients (3 males, 13 females) and age- and gender-matched controls participated in the study. Subjects were instructed to use one of four grip types: two digits, three digits, four digits, or all five digits to grasp, lift, hold level and release a grip device for 7 consecutive lifts. Object mass was changed across blocks of trials by inserting either a “light mass” (445g) or a “heavy mass” (745g) underneath the grip device. Force and torque exerted by each digit were measured. Results: CTS patients learned multi-digit force modulation to object weight regardless of grip type. Although controls exerted the same total grip force across all grip types, patients exerted significantly larger grip force than controls but only for manipulations with four and five digits. Importantly, this effect was due to CTS patients’ inability to change the finger force distribution when adding the ring and little fingers. Significance: These findings indicate CTS primarily challenges sensorimotor integration processes underlying the coordination of CTS-affected and non-affected digits.This item is part of the College of Medicine - Phoenix Scholarly Projects 2013 collection. For more information, contact the Phoenix Biomedical Campus Library at [email protected]