The effect of duration, severity, response to treatment, family and social interactions with chronic pain and depression have been studied extensively. But, none of the studies have ever reported any association of the character of chronic pain particularly neuropathic pain with depression. The aim of this study is to find out the association of neuropathic pain (using painDETECT tool) and depression [using the patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9) scale].

A prospective analysis of 250 patients, aged 18 to 65 years of either sex suffering from chronic pain for more than 3 months’ duration with an average pain score of 4/10 or more on numerical rating scale (NRS) and moderate to severe depression diagnosed using PHQ-9 scale, were included in the study. Neuropathic character of pain was diagnosed using painDETECT tool. We analyzed the possible association of neuropathic pain with depression.

In 3.2% of patients were found to be suffering from neuropathic pain, 19.6% patients were non-neuropathic or nociceptive pain and 77.2% patients were suffering from mixed type of pain where neuropathic pain may be present. The average depression score on PHQ-9 scale was 14.58 ± 3.72. In 58.4% of patients the depression was moderate, 30.4% of patients the depression was moderately severe and 11.2 % of patients were suffering from severe depression. On analysis of data, we have found that there is no statistically significant association between neuropathic pain and depression (p = 0.8).

We did not find any statistically significant correlation between neuropathic pain and depression.

Sharma K, Das G, Dey S, Villano EQ, Mandal S. Neuropathic Pain and Depression: A Prospective Study to find out Any Association. J Recent Adv Pain 2016;2(1):6-10.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most prevalent chronic degenerative joint disorder worldwide and is associated with significant pain, disability and economic impact on society. The primary objective of the present research is to validate the hypothesis that combination of intraarticular injection of ozone and steroid has better outcome than using ozone alone in patients with primary knee OA.

Cohort comprises of 80 patients of American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) I and II between age 45 and 70 years of either sex with primary knee OA with radiographic evidence (grade 0, I, and II; Lawrence and Kellgren radiological criteria) of severity of knee joint. The patients were randomized to receive single intraarticular injection of either ozone alone or combination of ozone with steroid. All patients were assessed using Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis (WOMAC) index, and the visual analog pain scale (VAS) at 1, 3, and 6 months of follow-up. Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) for Windows software was used for data management and statistical analysis. The level of significance was set at 0.05 for all statistical tests.

Both the group treated with the combination of ozone and steroid and the group treated with ozone alone demonstrated improvements from baseline parameters. At 1 month patients in both group showed significant improvement in VAS and WOMAC (p < 0.05). Group treated with combination of ozone and steroid showed significant difference (p < 0.05) with respect to WOMAC, or VAS results at the end of 6 months of follow-up.

Ozone treatment was highly effective in relieving pain and improving functional outcome in patients with primary knee OA. Significant differences were detected between patients treated with intraarticular injections combination of ozone and steroid and those treated with the ozone alone with respect to pain relief or function at 6 months of follow-up.

Chansoria M, Upadhyay S, Panwar S, Shivhare P, Vyas N. Comparative Efficacy of Intraarticular Injection of Combination of Ozone and Steroid and Ozone alone in Patients with Primary Knee Osteoarthritis: A Prospective, Randomized Clinical Analysis. J Recent Adv Pain 2016;2(1):11-14.

Surange P. S1 Transforaminal: Technique and Troubleshooting. J Recent Adv Pain 2016;2(1): 15-17.

Chansoria M, Sahasrabuddhe A, Yadav S, Vyas N. Postherpetic Neuralgia: From Phenytoin to Ultrasonography- guided Blocks. J Recent Adv Pain 2016;2(1):18-21.

Kulkarni R. Ultrasound-guided Stellate Ganglion Block. J Recent Adv Pain 2016;2(1):22-24.

Upadhyay R, Chansoria M, Harne R, Singh R. Single Level Thoracic Paravertebral Block for Analgesia in Modified Radical Mastectomy in a Comorbid Female. J Recent Adv Pain 2016;2(1):25-27.

Singh R, Chansoria M, Choukse AK, Vyas N. A Novel Technique of Epidural Catheter Fixation. J Recent Adv Pain 2016;2(1):28-30.

Meraj S, Das G. Thoracic Facet Arthropathy Presenting with Pain Abdomen: An Unusual Presentation. J Recent Adv Pain 2016;2(1):31-32.

Yadav S, Das G, Malik S. Magnetic Resonance Imaging alone is not enough to rule out the Radiculopathy, Diagnostic Interventions has a Role! J Recent Adv Pain 2016;2(1):33-35.