Literature search was performed with the keywords including coccygodynia, treatment, and coccygectomy, on PubMed and Google Scholar between August 2012 and August 2017. Thirteen studies with patients age 18 and over who underwent treatments for coccygodynia were selected for analysis. These treatments include conservative therapies (physical therapy and capsaicin patch), interventional techniques (local injections with steroids and local anesthetic, pulsed radiofrequency ablation of ganglion impar, extracorporeal shock wave therapy), and surgical techniques (complete and partial coccygectomies). The results from these studies demonstrated that most patients had significant pain relief with these techniques. Our literature review demonstrated various interventions including coccygectomy can be effective in the treatment of coccygodynia refractory to conservative therapies. There is a growing body of clinical evidence to support that coccygectomy is an effective treatment for patients with debilitating pain who had failed interventional therapies. Further randomized control studies should be conducted to examine duration of pain relief after coccygectomy and associated surgical complications.

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Abstract Pain management guidelines for burn injury in pregnant women are scarce. Maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality in pregnant burn patients have been shown to be higher than that of the general population, especially in severe burns. Early intervention and interdisciplinary treatment are critical to optimize maternal and fetal outcomes. Proper pain management is central to wound treatment, as poor control of pain can contribute to delayed healing, re-epithelialization, as well as persistent neuropathic pain. We present this case of a 34-year-old female patient who suffered an 18% total body surface area burn during the third trimester of pregnancy to demonstrate that ketamine can be considered as an adjunct for procedural and background analgesia during the third trimester, as part of a multimodal strategy in a short-term, monitored setting after a thorough and complete analysis of risks and benefits and careful patient selection.

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Introduction Burn pain is grossly undertreated which may result in poorer outcomes including chronic pain, anxiety and persistent opioid use. Opioids are currently the mainstay of treatment with many burn patients receiving long term opioid management even in the context of the opioid crisis. We retrospectively reviewed the charts of burn patients admitted to our hospital to evaluate the impact of our multimodal pain management approach on overall opioid consumption. Methods Following IRB approval, a retrospective chart review of all patients with burn injuries over a one year period was performed. The Acute Pain Management Service was consulted for analgesic management for all patients. Patient data was collected from their electronic medical records on Epic HyperSpace and included total body surface area of burn, age and gender, length of hospital stay, amount of opioid usage throughout admission, average verbal numerical score for pain, and use of adjuvant analgesics was gathered. The amount of opioid usage was obtained from the chart and then converted to oral morphine equivalents (OME) using the CDC Prevention Conversion Chart. Results During the study period, eight patients met inclusion criteria. The average patient age was 42.5 years, with a mean of 26.8 % TBSA (Total body surface area) burn and mean length of stay of 23 days. Our pain pathway consisted of non-opioid analgesic adjuncts that were given around-the-clock with opioids used only on an as-needed basis. The nonopioid analgesics include acetaminophen, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), gabapentin or pregabalin, and a ketamine infusion. Initial opioid consumption (on day of APMS consult) as well as median hospital day was compared to opioid consumption on day of discharge. Six out of eight patients showed a reduction in their oral morphine equivalent (OME) following APMS consult usage from day of admission with average 76 OME to 44.6 OME on day of discharge. Conclusions We were able to reduce patient’s opioid requirement in 6 out of 8 patients upon discharge. These findings suggest that a further more rigorous study is warranted to demonstrate the benefits of multimodal therapy in burn pain. Applicability of Research to Practice The multimodal approach to pain control for burn patients may possibly be able to reduce the overall opioid requirements and theoretically the opioid associated side effects.