Anatomical gates for pain relief due to cervical and lumbar disc disease

Abstract

I propose the theory that the nerve sheath is transmitting the lignocaine chemical upwards towards the dorsal root ganglia and nerve roots which produce pain due to excitation after the disc disease. In this way, an injection of local anesthetic given far away from the actual neural damage, at a peripheral site, can relieve the pain for a variable length of time. In this case report, the author describes four specific injection points, called ‘Gates’; two of these describe pain relief in neck and upper limb, while two are specific to low back pain, hip pain and lower limb pains. Each of these was successfully used in a patient with specific pain of variable duration. Certainly, controlled studies with larger sample size, are needed to be done to understand better that how these distal nerve blocks really work.
Citation: Hammodi A. Anatomical gates for pain relief due to cervical and lumbar disc disease. Anaesth. pain & intensive care 2019;23(2):217-220