Effects of neural therapy on quality of life in patients suffering from Raynaud syndrome

Scleroderma and Raynaud Phenomenon: The Cold Truth Regarding the Use of Operative Management

BACKGROUND

Raynaud phenomenon, with and without scleroderma, is a common vasospastic condition that manifests with extremity pain and skin discoloration. When conservative management fails, complications such as ischemia, ulceration, and gangrene may warrant surgical intervention. The purpose of this study was to determine the risk factors and use of surgical intervention in this population.

METHODS

A national insurance claims-based database with patient records from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services was used for data collection. Patients with first diagnoses of Raynaud phenomenon, scleroderma, or both between 2005 and 2014 were identified. Primary outcomes included the presence of upper extremity amputation or vascular procedure, and history of amputation within 5 years of a vascular procedure. Secondary outcomes included hospital admissions, upper extremity wounds, and amputation within 1 year of diagnosis.

RESULTS

The Raynaud phenomenon, scleroderma, and Raynaud phenomenon with scleroderma cohorts consisted of 161,300, 117,564, and 25,096 patients, respectively. A diagnosis of both Raynaud phenomenon and scleroderma increased the odds of upper extremity amputation by 5.4-fold, vascular procedure by 4.8-fold, and amputation within 5 years of a vascular procedure by 1.5-fold. Patients with Raynaud phenomenon or scleroderma alone were 3.1 and 5.6 times less likely to undergo amputation within 5 years of a vascular procedure, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with both Raynaud phenomenon and scleroderma have higher likelihoods of having upper extremity amputations, vascular procedures, and amputations following vascular procedures compared to each diagnosis alone. Vascular procedures are rarely being performed. Further research is necessary to establish a standard of care and determine whether early and more frequent intervention with vascular procedures can decrease amputation rates in this patient population.

CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Risk, II.

Emotional release and physical symptom improvement: a qualitative analysis of self-reported outcomes and mechanisms in patients treated with neural therapy

Background

Neural Therapy (NT) is a common complementary treatment approach using injections with short-acting local anesthetics to treat pain and chronic diseases. However, little is known about the underlying mechanisms and the domains of treatment response. This study therefore analyzed patient experiences following NT injections with procaine.

Methods

Maximum variation sampling was used to collect data from semi-structured interviews conducted with 22 hospital inpatients aged 59.6 ± 14.9 years (81.8% female). Each had multiple (9.4 ± 6.9) diagnoses. They were undergoing two weeks of integrative treatment, which included individualized NT. The interview data were analyzed in MAXQDA using qualitative content analysis.

Results

With injection, patients first described local anesthetic effects including temporary blocking of pain and increased local warmth. Second, patients reported on vegetative reactions frequently leading to turmoil within the body like initial aggravation of existing symptoms or the appearance of new, concealed or phantom symptoms. This often required the need for rest to deal with the treatment stimulus. As a third step, many patients could gain physical and emotional release and relief in symptoms, mood and functioning. Emotional release was often accompanied by weeping and initially overwhelmed affected patients with dissociated memories. However, in cases where patients were able to experience those memories with a new distance, a fourth step of integration was achievable. It included reframing processes as well as a gain in pain perception and body-awareness. As a possible fifth step, patients experienced improved mood, increased pain acceptance and empowerment. Adverse events of NT included pain from the injections, vegetative complaints and emotional turmoil that lasted for minutes or hours, with a maximum of two days.

Conclusions

Patients treated with procaine injections reported different psychophysiological outcomes contributing to the understanding of the mechanisms underlying NT. Further efficacy studies should separate specific NT from non-specific/placebo effects.

Trial registration

DRKS00004567.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12906-018-2369-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.