Search results for: pain

English Hospitals Divert Ambulances After Ransomware Cyber Attack

Costas Pitas & Alistair Smout | May 12, 2017

LONDON (Reuters)—Hospitals and doctors’ surgeries across England were forced to turn away patients and cancel appointments on Friday after a nationwide ‘ransomware’ cyber attack crippled some computer systems in the state-run health service. The U.K. National Health Service (NHS) said 16 organizations had been affected by the cyber attack but said it had not been…

Cracking, Popping Joints May Foretell Arthritis

Carolyn Crist | May 11, 2017

(Reuters Health)—Grating, cracking or popping sounds around joints may predict future arthritis, especially in the knees, according to a recent U.S. study. Among thousands of people with no knee pain who were followed for three years, one quarter had noisy knees yet they made up three quarters of the cases of symptomatic knee arthritis that…

Pregabalin Is Ineffective for Sciatica

Lara C. Pullen, PhD | May 8, 2017

A recent small-scale study examined the efficacy of pregabalin in the treatment of neuropathic pain caused by sciatica, as well as its associated low back pain. Researchers found the treatment did not reduce leg pain better than placebo and resulted in more adverse events…

Complex Treatment: Cancer, Immunotherapy & Rheumatic Disease

Richard Quinn | May 6, 2017

Some cancer patients taking immune checkpoint inhibitors experience immune-related adverse events. Laura C. Cappelli, MD, MHS, says rheumatologists are natural partners with oncologists to treat this patient population…

Noridian Updates Tendon Injections Guidelines for Jurisdiction F

From the College | May 3, 2017

Effective May 22, 2017 Noridian has updated the Local Coverage Determination (LCD) coding guidelines for CPT procedures 20552, injection(s); single or multiple trigger point(s), 1 or 2 muscle(s) and 20553, injection(s); single or multiple trigger point(s), 3 or more used to affect therapy for a pathological condition. Noridian states the goal of the updated diagnostic…

FDA to Review Immediate-Release Oxycodone; Plus NICE Recommends Secukinumab

Michele B. Kaufman, PharmD, BCGP | May 1, 2017

A new formulation of oxycodone in 10 and 15 mg doses is being reviewed by the FDA for treating pain…

MicroRNAs Provide Insight into Bone Metabolism

Lara C. Pullen, PhD | May 1, 2017

A recent study examined the functional variants within microRNAs that affect bone metabolism and possibly bone disorders. Researchers found overexpression of microRNAs may contribute to the osteoporotic phenotype, and the gene targets associated with two specific osteoblast-expressed microRNAs may be critical in osteoporosis…

A Moving Target: Cardiovascular Risk & Rheumatic Disease

Richard Quinn | April 21, 2017

For patients with rheumatic disease, general treatment guidelines for managing cardiovascular risk are suboptimal, says Katherine Liao, MD. A patient’s level of disease activity and inflammation affect their risk…

Rheumatology Coding Corner Question: Billing Infusion Procedure with JW Modifier

From the College | April 20, 2017

An 82-year-old female established patient diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis in multiple joints returns to the office for her second infliximab infusion. She denies any fevers, cough or concurrent illness. Her joint pain is 7 on a scale of 1–10. She complains of achy pain in the cervical, lumbar and sacral regions of her spine. She…

Rheumatology Case Report: Bullous Lesions in Patient with Lupus

Mitali Sen, MD, Corrado Minimo, MD, & Ruchika Patel, MD | April 20, 2017

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a heterogeneous disease associated with multiple acute or chronic cutaneous manifestations, including the relatively rare category of bullous lupus. The development of vesiculo-bullous lesions may be associated with a high morbidity, hence they warrant an urgent investigation, including a skin biopsy to identify the diagnosis and initiate prompt treatment. With…