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KMID : 0948920070060010040
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Clinical Pain
2007 Volume.6 No. 1 p.40 ~ p.45
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The Effect of Hydroxocobalamin in Patients with Chronic Radiculopathy
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Chae Yu-Jin
Moon Ja-Young
Kim Sung-Hyun
Lee Jae-Hyuk
Park Ki-Cheol
Kim Min-Young
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Abstract
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Objective: To evaluate the therapeutic effects of hydroxocobalamin in patients with chronic radiculopathy who had failed to respond conventional rehabilitation including physical and medical treatment.
Materials and Methods: Thirty eight patients with radiculopathy who had not shown improvement by conventional treatment were enrolled. We administrated 5mg of hydroxocobalamin once a day for 10 days via intravenous route. We stopped all the conventional therapies during that time. After 10 times of hydroxocobalamin injection, we evaluated changes in pain status with visual analogue scale. We categorized pain characteristics into three patterns (numbness, dull pain, and burning pain), and classified 38 patients into 2 groups according to their responsiveness to hydroxocobalamin. Subjects who reported pain relieving (VAS score decrement ≥3) were classified into hydroxocobalamin-responsive group (n=14). The others who did not experience definite pain relieving (VAS score decrement ≤2) were classified into non-responsive group (n=24). All subjects were evaluated with EMG (electromyography) and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) or CT (computed tomography).
Results: After hydroxocobalamin treatment, the average of visual analogue scale score reduced significantly (p＜0.05). The hydroxocobalamin-responsive group showed longer duration of radiculopathy symptoms than the non-responsive group. More improvements were observed in numbness than the other pain characteristics. We could not find any correlations between the severity of radiculopathy on EMG and the effects of hydroxocobalamin.
Conclusion: We expect that hydroxocobalamin could be used as an adjunctive therapy in patients with chronic radiculopathy who are not responsive to other conservative management.
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KEYWORD
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Pain, Radiculopathy, Hydroxocobalamin
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