Pain
-
In an attempt to unravel the relationship between chronic pain and depression, the authors studied the incidence of depression, alcoholism, and chronic pain in first degree relatives of 100 chronic pain patients with and without depression. A higher incidence of major depression was found in first degree relatives of those patients with depression than those without depression. Familial incidence of alcohol dependence was similar in both groups of patients. These findings confirm an earlier report and raise questions about the notion of considering chronic pain simply as a variant of depression and suggest the possibility that the occurrence of major depression in chronic back pain might be related to genetic vulnerability to depression in these patients.
-
DADL was administered to a patient who was analgetically tolerant to continuously infused, intrathecal morphine sulfate. DADL restored analgesia without respiratory depression but opiate withdrawal syndrome was not prevented. ⋯ Clonidine hydrochloride and decreasing doses of oral morphine were used to successfully treat the withdrawal syndrome, including somnolence. Further research is indicated to verify the findings of this one patient and investigate the efficacy of DADL to provide analgesia for morphine-tolerant patients.
-
Comparative Study
A simultaneous comparison of fentanyl's analgesic effects on experimental and clinical pain.
Intravenous administration of 0.8 microgram/kg and 1.1 micrograms/kg fentanyl in low back pain patients reduced both sensory intensity and unpleasantness visual analogue scale (VAS) responses to experimental pain evoked by graded 5-sec nociceptive temperature stimuli (45-51 degrees C) as well as VAS-sensory and VAS-affective responses to clinical pain. Fentanyl produced similar decreases in VAS-sensory responses to experimental and clinical pain. ⋯ This interaction of type of pain (experimental versus clinical) and pain dimension (sensory versus affective) results from either a steeper sensory intensity-unpleasantness relationship for clinical pain as compared to experimental pain or additional selective influences of opiates on affective factors uniquely related to clinical pain. These results indicate that low to moderate doses of opiates reduce both sensory and affective dimensions of pain and strongly suggest that changes in pain affect occur mainly as a direct consequence of reductions in pain sensation intensity.
-
In order to substantiate accidental observations on the influence of skin temperature on itch, and to elucidate a possible involvement of thermoreceptors in itch generation, the effects of thermostimulation on clinical and experimental itch were studied. Eighteen patients with atopic dermatitis rated the intensity of spontaneous itch on one of their forearms before, during, and after its immersion in a waterbath of either 10 degrees C or 45 degrees C. In 40 normal subjects itch was elicited by histamine topically applied to a 7 cm2 skin area of the volar forearm. ⋯ The results indicate that changes in skin temperature have a marked influence on itch intensity. Whereas cooling seems to act directly on the sensory receptors mediating itch, warm stimuli could have a central inhibitory effect. A direct role of thermoreceptors in the generation of itch is improbable.
-
The successful management of 5 consecutive patients with intractable phantom limb pain is described. The main therapy is a combination of a narcotic and antidepressant. ⋯ There were no signs of habituation or addiction. We conclude that narcotics can be safely and successfully utilized for long-term management of phantom limb pain.