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Chest wall pain syndromes can emerge following local therapies for lung cancer and can adversely affect patients quality-of-life. This can occur after lung surgery, radiation therapy, or percutaneous image-guided thermal ablation. This review describes the multifactorial pathophysiology of chest wall pain syndromes that develop following surgical and non-surgical local therapies for lung cancer and summarizes evidence-based management strategies for inflammatory, neuropathic, myofascial, and osseous pain. It discusses a step-wise approach to treating chest wall pain that begins with non-opioid oral analgesics and includes additional pharmacologic treatments as clinically indicated, such as anticonvulsants, serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, tricyclic antidepressants, and various topical treatments. For myofascial pain, physical medicine techniques, such as acupuncture, trigger point injections, deep tissue massage, and intercostal myofascial release can also offer pain relief. For severe or refractory cases, opioid analgesics, intercostal nerve blocks, or intercostal nerve ablations may be indicated. Fortunately, palliation of treatment-related chest wall pain syndromes can be managed by most clinical providers, regardless of the type of local therapy utilized for a patients lung cancer treatment. In cases where a patients pain fails to respond to initial medical management, clinicians can consider referring to a pain specialist who can tailor a more specific pharmacologic approach or perform a procedural intervention to relieve pain.

Chest wall pain syndromes can emerge following local therapies for lung cancer and can adversely affect patients’ quality-of-life. This can occur after lung surgery, radiation therapy, or percutaneous image-guided thermal ablation. This review describes the multifactorial pathophysiology of chest wall pain syndromes that develop following surgical and non-surgical local therapies for lung cancer and summarizes evidence-based management strategies for inflammatory, neuropathic, myofascial, and osseous pain. It discusses a step-wise approach to treating chest wall pain that begins with non-opioid oral analgesics and includes additional pharmacologic treatments as clinically indicated, such as anticonvulsants, serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, tricyclic antidepressants, and various topical treatments. For myofascial pain, physical medicine techniques, such as acupuncture, trigger point injections, deep tissue massage, and intercostal myofascial release can also offer pain relief. For severe or refractory cases, opioid analgesics, intercostal nerve blocks, or intercostal nerve ablations may be indicated. Fortunately, palliation of treatment-related chest wall pain syndromes can be managed by most clinical providers, regardless of the type of local therapy utilized for a patient’s lung cancer treatment. In cases where a patient’s pain fails to respond to initial medical management, clinicians can consider referring to a pain specialist who can tailor a more specific pharmacologic approach or perform a procedural intervention to relieve pain.

Purpose of Review: Breast cancer is currently the most prevalent cancer diagnosed globally, and there is a significant gap in the availability of effective first-line treatment options. In addition to a cancer diagnosis, breast cancer patients face additional pain and morbidity after treatment. Radiation fibrosis, muscle spasms, muscle pain, neuropathy, and limited shoulder function are all potential side effects of breast cancer treatment and breast reconstruction. Post-mastectomy pain syndrome affects 25–60% of people after breast surgery. The current review moves forward to explain interventional pain management options that can be used to supplement conservative measures (physical therapy, medication, topical ointments) to help these patients. Recent Findings: There are many new interventional procedures to treat chest wall pain, neuropathic pain, and spasticity after breast surgery. Currently, the most commonly performed procedures are botulinum toxin injections, serratus anterior plane blocks, intercostobrachial nerve blocks, thoracic paravertebral nerve blocks, pectoralis nerve blocks, and erector spinae nerve blocks. Summary: Utilizing one of these interventional procedures, along with physical therapy and pharmacologic interventions, can help manage post-mastectomy pain syndrome in the millions of breast cancer patients diagnosed and treated every year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and purposeChest wall toxicity is observed after stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for peripherally located lung tumors. We utilize machine learning algorithms to identify toxicity predictors to develop dose-volume constraints.Materials and methodsTwenty-five patient, tumor, and dosimetric features were recorded for 197 consecutive patients with Stage I NSCLC treated with SBRT, 11 of whom (5.6%) developed CTCAEv4 grade ≥2 chest wall pain. Decision tree modeling was used to determine chest wall syndrome (CWS) thresholds for individual features. Significant features were determined using independent multivariate methods. These methods incorporate out-of-bag estimation using Random forests (RF) and bootstrapping (100 iterations) using decision trees.ResultsUnivariate analysis identified rib dose to 1 cc

Chest pain is a common reason that patients may present for evaluation in both ambulatory and emergency department settings, and is often of musculoskeletal origin in the former. Chest wall syndrome collectively describes the various entities that can contribute to chest wall pain of musculoskeletal origin and may affect any chest wall structure. Various imaging modalities may be employed for the diagnosis of nontraumatic chest wall conditions, each with variable utility depending on the clinical scenario. We review the evidence for or against use of various imaging modalities for the diagnosis of nontraumatic chest wall pain. The American College of Radiology Appropriateness Criteria are evidence-based guidelines for specific clinical conditions that are reviewed annually by a multidisciplinary expert panel. The guideline development and revision include an extensive analysis of current medical literature from peer reviewed journals and the application of well-established methodologies (RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation or GRADE) to rate the appropriateness of imaging and treatment procedures for specific clinical scenarios. In those instances where evidence is lacking or equivocal, expert opinion may supplement the available evidence to recommend imaging or treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the diagnosis of straight back syndrome (SBS) in a 14-year-old girl with intermittent chest pain and shortness of breath. Topics include the clinical presentation of SBS mimicking cardiac disease, diagnostic criteria for SBS, and the role of musculoskeletal factors in causing chest pain in these patients.

Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for lung tumors near the chest wall often causes significant chest wall pain (CWP), negatively impacting patients' quality of life. The mechanisms behind SBRT-induced CWP remain unclear and may involve multiple factors. We investigated the potential crosstalk between radiation-activated osteoclasts and sensory neurons, focusing on osteoclast-derived factors in CWP. Using the murine pre-osteoclast cell line Raw264.7, we induced differentiation with RANKL, followed by 10Gy gamma-irradiation. Conditioned media from these irradiated osteoclasts was used to treat sensory neuronal cultures from mouse dorsal root ganglia. Neuronal cultures were also directly exposed to 10Gy radiation, with and without osteoclast co-culture. Analysis of osteoclast markers and pain-associated neuropeptides was conducted using RT-qPCR and histochemical staining. Osteoclast differentiation and activity were inhibited using Osteoprotegerin and risedronate. Results showed that high-dose radiation significantly increased osteoclast size, resorption pit size, and activity biomarkers. Neurons treated with CM from irradiated osteoclasts showed increased expression of pain-associated neuropeptides CGRP and Substance P, which was mitigated by osteoprotegerin and risedronate. This study suggests that high-dose radiation enhances osteoclast activity, upregulating pain-associated neuropeptides in sensory neurons, and that inhibitors like osteoprotegerin and risedronate may offer therapeutic strategies for managing radiation-induced pain., Competing Interests: Declarations CONFLICT OF INTEREST The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare

Background Radiation-induced chest wall pain (cwp) and rib fracture (rf) are late adverse effects after stereotactic body radiation therapy (sbrt) for stage i non-small-cell lung cancer (nsclc); however, the literature about their incidence and risk factors shows variability. We performed a systematic review to determine the pooled incidence of cwp and rf in the relevant population. Methods A literature search using the prisma (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines considered English publications in medline and embase from January 1996 to August 2017. Abstracts were screened, followed by full-text review and data extraction. Results The database searches identified 547 records. Twenty-eight publications comprising 3892 patients met the inclusion criteria. Median reported ages and follow-up durations fell into the ranges 67-82 years and 12-84 months. Prescriptions fell into the range of 40-70 Gy in 3-10 fractions. Despite study heterogeneity, the pooled incidences of cwp and rf were estimated to be 8.94% and 5.27% respectively. Nineteen studies reported cwp grade: 58 of 308 patients (18.8%) experienced grades 3-4 cwp (no grade 5 events reported). Thirteen studies reported rf grade: grades 3-4 rf were observed in 9 of 113 patients (7.96%). A high chest wall V30 was an important predictor of cwp and rf. Conclusions In patients with stage i nsclc, rates of cwp and rf after sbrt are low; however, tumour location, accurate toxicity reporting, and dose--fractionation schemes might alter those rates. Prospective correlation with dosimetry and quality of life assessment will further improve the understanding of cwp and rf after sbrt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case reports successful treatment of intractable, idiopathic chest wall and rib pain of five years duration in a fifty-year-old female patient, using acupuncture and related modalities. Patient had suffered from idiopathic chest wall pain without significant improvement with conventional therapies. Her condition was resolved in five treatments, which included manual acupuncture, electroacupuncture, running cupping and press needles. It is noted that this was a sample size of n=1. Further studies with larger sample sizes should be conducted to see if acupuncture and related modalities can help patients experiencing this kind of severe, unremitting pain. A further limitation of this case is that it is not yet known whether or not her chest wall and rib pain will reoccur, but, if it does recur, this approach can offer a relatively low cost, effective and safe alternative to conventional biomedical treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic low back pain (CLBP) and post-laminectomy syndrome (PLS) can pose significant therapeutic challenges, often refractory to conservative management. We present a case of a 52-year-old male with refractory CLBP and PLS who underwent spinal cord stimulation (SCS) lead placement, and subsequently developed chronic right anterior chest wall and upper abdominal pain. Despite using SCS and opioid therapy, the pain persisted until an ultrasound-guided external oblique intercostal plane block (EOIPB) was administered, resulting in complete pain relief. This case highlights the efficacy of EOIPB in managing chronic post-surgical neuropathic pain, underscoring its potential as a valuable intervention in such cases., Competing Interests: Human subjects: Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work., (Copyright © 2024, Elmati et al.)

Abstract Purpose Chest wall pain is an uncommon but bothersome late complication following lung stereotactic body radiation therapy. Despite numerous studies investigating predictors of chest wall pain, no clear consensus has been established for a chest wall constraint. The aim of our study was to investigate factors related to chest wall pain in a homogeneous group of patients treated at our institution. Patients and methods All 122 patients were treated with the same stereotactic body radiation therapy regimen of 48 Gy in three fractions, seen for at least 6 months of follow-up, and planned with heterogeneity correction. Chest wall pain was scored according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events classification v3.0. Patient (age, sex, diabetes, osteoporosis), tumour (planning target volume, volume of the overlapping region between planning target volume and chest wall) and chest wall dosimetric parameters (volumes receiving at least 30, 40, and 50 Gy, the minimal doses received by the highest irradiated 1, 2, and 5 cm3, and maximum dose) were collected. The correlation between chest wall pain (grade 2 or higher) and the different parameters was evaluated using univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Results Median follow-up was 18 months (range: 6–56 months). Twelve patients out of 122 developed chest wall pain of any grade (seven with grade 1, three with grade 2 and two with grade 3 pain). In univariate analysis, only the volume receiving 30 Gy or more (P = 0.034) and the volume of the overlapping region between the planning target volume and chest wall (P = 0.038) significantly predicted chest wall pain, but these variables were later proved non-significant in multivariate regression. Conclusion Our analysis could not find any correlation between the studied parameters and chest wall pain. Considering our present study and the wide range of differing results from the literature, a reasonable conclusion is that a constraint for chest wall pain is yet to be defined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During a conference of pain specialists, some of the experts addressed the potential management of four prevalent but difficult painful conditions, namely, chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP), knee osteoarthritis, chest trauma, and facet joint arthropathy. In all cases, the conditions posed challenges in accurate diagnoses as well as safe, effective treatments, especially using locoregional blocks. It is not clear why some surgical patients develop CPSP and others do not, although some risk factors have been identified. More importantly, the transitional phase of pain from acute to chronic deserves greater scrutiny. It appears as if more aggressive and more effective perioperative and postoperative analgesia could help mitigate or possibly prevent CPSP. Knee osteoarthritis is prevalent but is often managed pharmacologically and then with joint replacement; many patients simply live with the condition which can be viewed as a disease of the entire joint. New approaches with intra-articular injections of hyaluronic acid, platelet-rich plasma, and botulinum toxin may provide safe, effective, and durable pain control. Chest trauma can be extremely painful and a source of morbidity, but its management tends to rely on watchful waiting and drug therapy. New approaches to regional nerve blocks can be beneficial and may reduce troublesome symptoms such as the inability to cough or clear the lungs. Facet joint arthropathy is very prevalent among older people but is not completely clarified. It may be the source of intense pain with limited management strategies. The role of nerve blocks in facet joint arthropathy is an important new addition to the armamentarium of pain management, particularly for geriatric patients., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2023, Moka et al.)

A 54-year-old male presented with chronic left-sided chest wall pain. Diagnosed as myofascial pain after ruling out other causes, he had little or no relief with the conventional treatment consisting of oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and muscle relaxants. An ultrasound-guided pectoral nerve block (PECSB) supplemented with intramuscular stimulation (IMS) was performed, with IMS being repeated after a week. Near total pain relief was achieved, which was sustained for up to 90 days, the period for which the patient has been followed up. We conclude that PECSBs are safe, easy to perform and effective for chronic chest wall pain.

Pain affects 50% of patients with cancer. Cancer-related pain occurs from tumor invasion as well as a sequela from cancer treatment. Despite numerous and often significant side effects, opioid, and neuropathic pain medications remain the mainstays of treatment for cancer-related pain. Neuromodulation-based treatment approaches including SCS, DRGS, and PNS are becoming increasingly common in the cancer pain landscape. In this narrative review, we present 11 case reports and case series that highlight the usefulness of neuromodulation for the treatment of chest wall pain from various cancer-related pathologies. Of the 34 patients included in these reports, 30 patients (88.25%) derived meaningful pain relief with the use of neuromodulation-based approaches. In addition, a majority of patients were able to reduce or eliminate their opioid requirements. This review provides early evidence that neuromodulation can be an effective treatment option for the treatment of cancer-related chest wall pain and set the backdrop for future clinical trials., Competing Interests: The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: JMH is a consultant for Abbott, Boston Scientific, Nevro, and Saluda. TD is a consultant for Abbott, Saluda, SPR, Spinal Simplicity, Painteq, Cornorloc and has funded research from Abbott, 10.13039/100008497Boston Scientific, Saluda, 10.13039/100009798SPR. NMA has no conflict of interest. RHJ has no conflict of interest.

Aims To determine the incidence and predictive factors of rib fracture and chest wall pain after lung stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR). Materials and methods Patients were treated with lung SABR of 48–60 Gy in four to five fractions. The treatment plan and follow-up computed tomography scans of 289 tumours in 239 patients were reviewed. Dose–volume histogram (DVH) metrics and clinical factors were evaluated as potential predictors of chest wall toxicity. Results The median follow-up was 21.0 months (range 6.2–52.1). Seventeen per cent (50/289) developed a rib fracture, 44% (22/50) were symptomatic; the median time to fracture was 16.4 months. On univariate analysis, female gender, osteoporosis, tumours adjacent (within 5 mm) to the chest wall and all of the chest wall DVH metrics predicted for rib fracture, but only tumour location adjacent to the chest wall remained significant on the multivariate model ( P < 0.01). The 2 year fracture-free probability for those adjacent to the chest wall was 65.6%. Among those tumours adjacent to the chest wall, only osteoporosis ( P = 0.02) predicted for fracture, whereas none of the chest wall DVH metrics were predictive. Eight per cent (24/289) experienced chest wall pain without fracture. Conclusions None of the chest wall DVH metrics independently predicted for SABR-induced rib fracture when tumour location is taken into account. Patients with tumours adjacent (within 5 mm) to the chest wall are at greater risk of rib fracture after lung SABR, and among these, an additional risk was observed in osteoporotic patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]