BACKGROUND: Despite high success rate of DREZ lesioning in the treatment of intractable @entity158 , there is still a significant incidence of @entity1 without satisfactory post-operative effect. The aim of the study was to evaluate the long-term effect of DREZ lesioning using both a subjective assessment using a visual analog scale (VAS) to quantify residual @entity158 and an assessment using the screening tool (painDETECT Questionnaire, PD-Q). METHODS: DREZ lesioning was performed in 52 @entity1 from a total 441 cases with @entity2685 (11.8%) during a 17-year period (1995-2011). The effect of surgery was retrospectively assessed in 48 @entity1 . RESULTS: A decrease in pre-operative @entity158 by more than 75% (Group I) was achieved in 70.8% of @entity1 and another 20.8% reported significant improvement (Group II). The surgery was unsucessful in 8.4% (Group III). We found a significant correlation between 'improvement' groups from both methods of assessments. @entity1 from Group I usually complained of residual nociceptive @entity158 according to PD-Q, @entity1 from Group II typically had @entity158 of unclear origin, and all cases those in Group III suffered from @entity9 , Cramer's V = .66, P < .001. Overall, 66.7% of @entity1 had resolved @entity9 , 20.8% @entity1 had more serious complaints and may also suffer from residual @entity9 , while 12.5% had unresolved @entity9 . CONCLUSION: DREZ lesioning is a safe and effective method with success rates of about 90%. PD-Q scores correspond to subjective satisfaction with the surgery and it seems to be a suitable screening tool for finding @entity1 with residual @entity9 after surgery.

Usefulness of screening tools in the evaluation of long-term effectiveness of DREZ lesioning in the treatment of @entity9 after XXXX .

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['Patients', 'patients'] @entity9 :: ('MESH:D009437', 'Disease') :: ['neuropathic pain'] @entity158 :: ('MESH:D010146', 'Disease') :: ['central pain', 'pain'] @entity2685 :: ('MESH:C536265', 'Disease') :: ['brachial plexus injury']
@entity2685 :: (MESH:C536265,Disease) :: ['brachial plexus injury']
