Trigeminal neuralgia: is botulinum toxin effective?

Behavioural signs such as grimacing, guarding, resistance to care, pacing/rocking etc will give clues to the fact that a person with dementia is in pain

Six small RCTs were included in this review. Findings suggest that botulinum toxin type A (BoTN-A) has a positive effect on post treatment pain. Hover the results should be interpreted cautiously as the quality of the evidence is limited and more high quality studies are needed.

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Little good evidence currently available to support the effectiveness of antidepressants in the treatment of orofacial pain

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Orofacial pain is a relatively common and is categorized into musculoskeletal; neuropathic; vascular; neurovascular; idiopathic; pain caused by local, distant, or systemic pathology; and psychogenic.  Diagnosis can be challenging when psychosocial factors are present and while antidepressants have been used as a treatment there remains some controversy.  The aim of this review was to assess [read the full story…]