Rony-Reuven Nir

Conditioned pain modulation (CPM) paradigms have been increasingly used over the past few years to assess endogenous analgesia capacity in healthy individuals and pain patients. The current review concentrates on selected recent literature advancing our understanding and practice of CPM. The main themes covered by the present CPM review include und...

Endogenous analgesia (EA) can be examined experimentally using a conditioned pain modulation (CPM) paradigm. While noxious conditioning stimulation intensities (CSIs) are mainly used, it has not been fully investigated in the same experimental design whether the experienced conditioning pain level affects CPM responses. The principal goal of the pr...

Although painfulness of the conditioning stimulus (CS) is required for the activation of conditioned pain modulation (CPM), it is still unclear whether CPM expression depends on the objective physical intensity of the CS or the subjective perception of its pain. Accordingly, we cognitively manipulated the perceived CS pain, rendering the physical a...

Pain neurophysiology has been chiefly characterized via event-related potentials (ERPs), which are exerted using brief, phase-locked noxious stimuli. Striving for objectively characterizing clinical pain states using more natural, prolonged stimuli, tonic pain has been recently associated with the individual peak frequency of alpha oscillations. Th...

Aim: This study compared the effectiveness of polymeric membrane breast pads compared to lanolin ointment for the management of painful, damaged nipples associated with breastfeeding. Methods: We conducted a prospective quasi-randomised, 2-arm, open trial among breastfeeding women with painful traumatised nipples (N=104) who were assigned to either...

Dressings used to manage donor site wounds have up to 40% of patients experiencing complications that may cause suboptimal scarring. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of a portable electrospun nanofibrous matrix that provides contactless management of donor site wounds compared with standard dressing techniques. This study included adult patient...

Current understanding of the origin of occipital headache falls short of distinguishing between cause and effect. Most preclinical studies involving trigeminovascular neurons sample neurons that are responsive to stimulation of dural areas in the anterior 2/3 of the cranium and the periorbital skin. Hypothesizing that occipital headache may involve...

Migraine-type photophobia, most commonly described as exacerbation of headache by light, affects nearly 90% of the patients. It is the most bothersome symptoms accompanying an attack. Using subjective psychophysical assessments, we showed that migraine patients are more sensitive to all colors of light during ictal than during interictal phase and...

Background: The therapeutic benefit of nerve decompression surgeries for chronic headache/migraine are controversial. Aim: To provide clinical characteristics of headache type and treatment outcome of occipital nerve decompression surgery. Methods: A retrospective review of clinical records. Inclusion criteria were evidence of chronic occipita...

Aversion to light is common among migraineurs undergoing acute attacks. Using psychophysical assessments in episodic migraine patients, we reported that white, blue, amber and red lights exacerbate migraine headache in a significantly larger percentage of patients and to a greater extent compared to green light. This study aimed at determining whet...

Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), the most abundant neuropeptide in primary afferent sensory neurons, is strongly implicated in the pathophysiology of migraine headache, but its role in migraine is still equivocal. As anewapproach to migraine treatment, humanized anti-CGRP monoclonal antibodies (CGRP-mAbs) were developed to reduce the availab...

Introduction: The current review addresses present-day technological advances in cardiac surgery performed on octogenarian patients, namely off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), proximal anastomosis device, routine use of intraoperative epiaortic ultrasound, transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), and brain protection during car...

Significance Many migraineurs report that their need to avoid light is driven mainly by how unpleasant it makes them feel. Seeking to understand why light is unpleasant, we show here that light can trigger the perception of chest tightness, shortness of breath, light-headedness, dry mouth, irritability, sadness, and fear (among other aversive sympt...

A large body of evidence supports an important role for calcitonin generelated peptide (CGRP) in migraine pathophysiology. This evidence gave rise to a global effort to develop a new generation of therapeutics that inhibit the interaction of CGRP with its receptor in migraineurs. Recently, a new class of such drugs, humanized anti-CGRP monoclonal a...

View largeDownload slide Migraine headache is commonly exacerbated by light (photophobia). Noseda, Burstein et al . show that green light alleviates the headache whereas blue, amber and red lights exacerbate it. Using electroretinography and visual evoked potentials in migraineurs and multi-electrode recordings in rats, they provide evidence that...

Background and Objective: Preoperative administration of pharmacological substances, such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or opioids, has been gaining acclaim as a preemptive measure to minimize postoperative pain. This systematic review and meta- analysis aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of this approach in adults undergoing...

Objective: Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CMRT) is the most effective treatment of stage III non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The present study aimed at assessing FDG PET/CT for defining the response of N2 disease to neoadjuvant CMRT, as surgical resection after such therapy significantly improves 5-year survival in responding N2 disease. Meth...

Conditioned pain modulation (CPM) responses may be affected by psychological factors such as anxiety, depression and pain catastrophizing, however most studies on CPM do not address these relations as their primary outcome. The aim of this meta-analysis was to analyze the findings regarding the associations between the CPM responses and psychologic...

Objective: To assess efficacy and tolerability of simvastatin plus vitamin D for migraine prevention in adults with episodic migraine. Methods: We performed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with a 12-week baseline period and 24-week intervention period in 57 adults with episodic migraine. Participants were randomly assigned to...

The efficiency of a double-lumen tube depends on its position in the airways, which can be verified by fibreoptic bronchoscopy. The VivaSight DL is a single-use double-lumen tube with a camera embedded in the tube's right side. The view from the camera appears continuously on a monitor. In this prospective study of 71 adult patients, we compared in...

Pain perception is typically assessed using subjective measures; an objective measure of the response to pain would be valuable. In this study, Brain Network Activation (BNA), a novel multivariate pattern analysis and scoring algorithm, was applied to event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by cortical responses to brief heat stimuli. Objectives o...

Background Stroke is a major cause of morbidity and mortality during open-heart surgery. Up to 60% of intraoperative cerebral events are emboli induced. This randomized, controlled, multicenter trial is the first human study evaluating the safety and efficacy of a novel aortic cannula producing simultaneous forward flow and backward suction for ext...

Postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is the most common complication after cardiac surgery, leading to increased morbidity and mortality. The aim of this preliminary study was to evaluate a novel drug delivery system for local release of amiodarone. In the current prospective study, 9 goats underwent attachment of right atrial (RA) epicardial e...

Stroke after open heart surgery is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Up to 60% of intraoperative cerebral events are caused by emboli generated by manipulations of the aorta during surgery. This is the first animal study evaluating the safety and efficacy of a novel aortic cannula designed to extract solid and gaseous emboli during cardiac...

Intraoperative cerebral events are mainly caused by emboli generated by operative manipulation of the aorta. This study aimed to delineate the distribution profiles of emboli with 2 widely used cannulae and a third novel research cannula that simultaneously produces forward flow and backward suction to extract emboli from the distal aorta during ca...

Cerebral emboli originating in the ascending aorta are a major cause of noncardiac complications following cardiac surgery. The hemodynamics of the aortic cannula has been proven to play a significant role in emboli generation and distribution. The aim of the current study was to perform a thorough numerical investigation in order to examine the ef...

The current review addresses contemporary technological advances in cardiac surgery performed on octogenarian patients, namely off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), proximal anastomosis device, routine use of intraoperative epiaortic ultrasound, proximal anastomosis without clamping, transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), and br...

Coronary artery disease remains the leading cause of death in developed countries. Major recent studies such as SYNTAX and FREEDOM have confirmed that coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) remains the gold standard treatment in terms of survival and freedom from myocardial infarction and the need for repeat revascularization. The current review ex...

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a common bacterial infection among infants and children. Predicting which children with upper UTI will develop long-term sequelae remains difficult. We aimed at evaluating the predictive value of urine concentrations of interleukin-6 (UIL-6) and interleukin-8 (UIL-8) in subsequent renal scarring. In the current obse...

The generation of emboli during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is profoundly affected by the hemodynamic properties of the aortic cannula used in the current study. The aim of the current work was to numerically investigate the hemodynamic efficiency and feasibility of a novel, backward suction cannula (BSC), designed to drastically reduce the potent...

Objective: Cardiac surgery patients are treated with antifibrinolytic agents to reduce intra- and postoperative bleeding. Until 2007, lysine analogues (aminocaproic acid and tranexamic acid) and serine protease inhibitors (aprotinin) were recommended. In 2008, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration prohibited aprotinin use because of associated pos...

Background: Undernourished patients treated in general surgery departments suffer from prolonged and complicated hospitalizations, and higher mortality rates compared with well nourished patients. Pivotal information regarding patients' nutritional status and its effect on clinical outcome is lacking for cardiac surgery patients. We investigated t...

Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) is a method of lung lobe resection that has been implemented in medical centers worldwide since 1992. This procedure utilizes video equipment to assist in performing lobectomies without the need to open the chest wall As of 2009, VATS has been performed in the generaL thoracic surgery department of Rambam...

Pediatric empyema necessitates prompt resolution and early hospital discharge with minimal morbidity. However, the most effective treatment approach is not yet established. To assess the efficacy of an intrapleural streptokinase washing protocol as a non-operative treatment for stage II pediatric empyema as compared to operative decortications, by...

Endogenous analgesia (EA) can be examined experimentally using a conditioned pain modulation (CPM) paradigm. While noxious conditioning stimulation intensities (CSIs) are mainly used, it has not been fully investigated in the same experimental design whether the experienced conditioning pain level affects CPM responses. The principal goal of the pr...

Unlabelled: Multiple studies have supported the usefulness of standardized low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (sLORETA) in localizing generators of scalp-recorded potentials. The current study implemented sLORETA on pain event-related potentials, primarily aiming at validating this technique for pain research by identifying well-known...

Unlabelled: The method of pain-evoked potentials has gained considerable acceptance over the last 3 decades regarding its objectivity, repeatability, and quantifiability. The present study explored whether the relationship between pain-evoked potentials and pain psychophysics obtained by contact heat stimuli is similar to those observed for the co...

Temporal summation (TS) is usually evoked by repetitive mechanical or electrical stimuli, and less commonly by tonic heat pain. The present study aimed to examine the TS induction by repetitive-phasic versus tonic heat pain stimuli. Using 27 normal volunteers, we compared the extent of summation by three calculation methods: start-to-end pain ratin...