Pain
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Chronic postoperative pain after total knee replacement (TKR) in knee osteoarthritis (KOA) implies clinical challenges. Widespread hyperalgesia, facilitated temporal summation of pain (TSP), and impaired conditioned pain modulation (CPM) have been found in painful KOA. This exploratory study investigated postoperative pain relief 12 months after TKR in 4 subgroups of patients preoperatively profiled by mechanistic quantitative sensory testing. ⋯ Less pain relief was found in group A (52.0% ± 14.0% pain relief) than in group B (81.1% ± 3.5%, P = 0.023) and group C (79.6% ± 4.4%, P = 0.007), but not group D (69.4% ± 7.9%, P = 0.087). Low preoperative PDT was associated with a less postoperative pain relief (R = -0.222, P = 0.034), whereas TSP or CPM alone showed no associations with postoperative pain relief. This explorative study indicated that patients with osteoarthritis with facilitated TSP together with impaired CPM are more vulnerable to experience less pain relief after TKR.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Combination of pregabalin with duloxetine for fibromyalgia: A randomized controlled trial.
Fibromyalgia is a syndrome characterized by chronic widespread pain and associated with sleep disturbance, depression, fatigue, and cognitive dysfunction. Polypharmacy is commonly used, but supportive evidence is limited. Most fibromyalgia trials focus primarily on pain reduction with monotherapy. ⋯ Moderate-severe drowsiness was more frequent during combination vs placebo. Combining pregabalin and duloxetine for fibromyalgia improves multiple clinical outcomes vs monotherapy. Continued research should compare this and other combinations to monotherapy for fibromyalgia.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
A randomized controlled trial of gabapentin for chronic low back pain with and without a radiating component.
Gabapentin is prescribed for analgesia in chronic low back pain, yet there are no controlled trials supporting this practice. This randomized, 2-arm, 12-week, parallel group study compared gabapentin (forced titration up to 3600 mg daily) with inert placebo. The primary efficacy measure was change in pain intensity from baseline to the last week on treatment measured by the Descriptor Differential Scale; the secondary outcome was disability (Oswestry Disability Index). ⋯ There were no significant differences in analgesia between participants with radiating (n = 46) and nonradiating (n = 62) pain either within or between treatment arms. There was no significant correlation between gabapentin plasma concentration and pain intensity. Gabapentin appears to be ineffective for analgesia in chronic low back pain with or without a radiating component.