Arachnoiditis: Diagnosis and Treatment

Arachnoiditis is officially listed as a rare disease, but its estimated incidence has increased over about 400% in the past decade. Almost every pain practice has now encountered a case. Technically, the name implies an inflammatory disease of the arachnoid layer of the thecal sac or meninges. In most cases the underlying pathologic cause is neuroinflammation of the nerve roots of the cauda equina. Pain practitioners need to know the inciting causes, symptoms, physical signs, and MRI findings of arachnoiditis. A clinical protocol for treatment of this "most painful" of pain states has been developed and will be presented. (Recorded at PAINWeek 2016)