Pain
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Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial
Treatment of severe cancer pain by low-dose continuous subcutaneous morphine.
In a prospective and intraindividually controlled trial, we have compared the efficacy and safety of a continuous subcutaneous morphine infusion with conventional intermittent oral or subcutaneous morphine application. Twenty-eight in-patients with cancer pain received a short-term infusion lasting 2-42 days, and 8 out-patients underwent long-term infusion from 49 to 197 days during the terminal stage of their disease. Continuous subcutaneous morphine infusion significantly (P less than 0.001) improved both pain and quality of life when compared to conventional morphine application. ⋯ Constipation occurred in 3 of the 36 patients and was always controlled by the addition of laxatives; no nausea, sedation or respiratory depression were observed. Signs of tolerance developed in 2 patients on long-term infusion, but the use of continuous subcutaneous methadone for 2 weeks reversed the tolerance. The study presented indicates that low-dose continuous subcutaneous morphine provides a valuable treatment modality for severe terminal cancer pain exhibiting a high degree of both efficacy and safety.
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Certain pathological types of afferent input are supposed to lead to long-term changes in the responsiveness of dorsal horn neurones. This mechanism might be of importance for the development of neurological disturbances such as chronic pain. The present study was undertaken in order to find out whether dorsal horn neurones--particularly those processing input from deep tissues--exhibit long-lasting changes in response behaviour after a short-lasting noxious stimulation of deep tissue. ⋯ In an attempt to assess the influence of a single noxious stimulus on the entire population of dorsal horn cells, the properties of a greater sample of neurones were compared before and after injection of bradykinin into the deep tissues of the hind limb. Every cell encountered was classified as being driven by (1) cutaneous receptors only, (2) deep receptors only, (3) both input sources, or (4) electrical stimulation only (cell without receptive field). Following injection of bradykinin, the proportion of cells with both deep and cutaneous input and of those having background activity rose, and the percentage of cells without a receptive field decreased.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Double-blind evaluation of analgesic efficacy of orally administered diclofenac, nefopam, and acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) plus codeine in chronic cancer pain.
The analgesic efficacy and toxicity of oral diclofenac sodium 50 mg (q.i.d.) vs. nefopam 60 mg (q.i.d.) and a combination of 640 mg ASA and 40 mg codeine (q.i.d.) in cancer patients with moderate to severe chronic pain has been evaluated in a randomized double-blind study. Planned duration of treatment was 10 days. Pain intensity was evaluated by a visual analog scale. ⋯ Patients treated with nefopam had a significantly shorter period in the study than patients treated with the other 2 treatments. Adverse effects were slightly more frequent with the nefopam and ASA + codeine regimens. The 3 therapeutic regimens appear to be similar as to analgesic efficacy, but diclofenac presents the advantage of a slightly better safety profile than nefopam and the ASA + codeine combination.
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We have recently demonstrated that humans report heat stimuli as less painful when presented concurrently with a second noxious stimulus applied to another part of the body. Previous neurophysiological studies have shown that similar heterotopically applied noxious stimuli selectively and completely inhibit the activity of wide-dynamic-range (WDR) neurons in the dorsal horn - a phenomenon termed diffuse noxious inhibitory controls (DNICs). Taken together, these 2 lines of evidence suggest that activation of WDR cells may be necessary for normal perception of pain. ⋯ This hypothesis was tested using a noxious heat discrimination task and a cold water (5 degrees C) diffuse noxious stimulus. We found that the ability to detect small changes (0.4-0.8 degrees C) in painful heat stimuli applied to the face decreases when the person's hand is submerged in painfully cold water (P = 0.005) and that this effect persists, to a lesser extent, after the hand is removed from water. Control tasks, using visual stimuli, demonstrated that the modulation of nociceptive discrimination was not a generalized effect on sensory perception; other control measures indicated that the results could not be attributed to distraction, fatigue or changes in response bias.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
The secondary prevention of low back pain: a controlled study with follow-up.
The current investigation studied the effectiveness of a secondary prevention program for nurses with back pain who were deemed at risk for developing a chronic problem. A 2 X 3 repeated measures design was employed with 2 groups and 3 assessment periods. The treatment group received an intervention designed to reduce current problems, but above all to prevent reinjury and minor pains from becoming chronic medical problems, and it included a physical and behavioral therapy package. ⋯ These differences were generally maintained at the 6 month follow-up. In addition, the treatment group broke a trend for increasing amounts of pain-related absenteeism, while the control group did not. Taken as a whole, the results suggest that a secondary prevention program aimed at altering life style factors may represent an effective method for dealing with musculoskeletal pain problems.