Interventional and Non-interventional Medical Rehabilitation Approaches to Axial Spine Pain in Vertebral Metastatic Disease

Krishna Sarma; David J Kohns; Maryam A Berri; Elizabeth Joyce; Sean R Smith

doi:10.3389/fpain.2021.675787

Interventional and Non-interventional Medical Rehabilitation Approaches to Axial Spine Pain in Vertebral Metastatic Disease

Front Pain Res (Lausanne). 2021 Jun 4:2:675787. doi: 10.3389/fpain.2021.675787. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Krishna Sarma¹, David J Kohns¹, Maryam A Berri¹, Elizabeth Joyce², Sean R Smith¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.
² University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.

Abstract

As targeted therapies help patients with advanced cancer live longer, interventions for management of axial spine pain will become more common. Unfortunately, the indications for and safety of these procedures have been relatively unexplored compared with non-cancer adults. This review focuses on the following aspects of axial spine pain management in patients with vertebral metastatic disease: (1) pathophysiology and symptoms of cancer- and non-cancer-related spine pain; (2) safety and efficacy of non-interventional rehabilitation approaches to treat this pain; (3) considerations for interventional pain approaches to acute and chronic pain in patients with vertebral metastatic disease. This review also summarizes gaps in the literature and describes specific cases in which the described interventions have been applied.

Keywords: back pain; cancer pain; cancer rehabilitation; injection safety; spinal metastases.

Publication types

Review