Pain
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
High-frequency, high-intensity transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation as treatment of pain after surgical abortion.
The aim of the study was to compare the pain-relieving effect and the time spent in the recovery ward after treatment with high-frequency, high-intensity transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) or intravenous (IV) conventional pharmacological treatment after surgical abortion. Two-hundred women who underwent surgical abortion and postoperatively reported a visual analogue scale (VAS) pain score3 were included. The patients were randomised to TENS or conventional pharmacological treatment for their postoperative pain. ⋯ The number of patients who needed additional analgesics in the recovery ward was comparable in both groups, as was the reported VAS pain score upon leaving the hospital (TENS=2.0 vs. conventional pharmacological treatment=1.8, NS). These results suggest that the pain-relieving effect of TENS seems to be comparable to conventional pharmacological treatment with IV opioids. Hence, TENS may be a suitable alternative to conventional pain management with IV opioids after surgical abortion.
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There is an increasing number of studies of acceptance, mindfulness, and values-based action in relation to chronic pain. Evidence from these studies suggests that these processes may be important for reducing the suffering and disability arising in these conditions. Taken together these processes entail an overarching process referred to as "psychological flexibility." While these processes have been studied in people with chronic pain contacted in specialty treatment centers, they have not yet been investigated in primary care. ⋯ In these regression equations pain intensity accounted for an average of 9.2% of variance while psychological flexibility accounted for 24.1%. These data suggest that psychological flexibility may reduce the impact of chronic pain in patients with low to moderately complex problems outside of specialty care. Due to a particularly conservative recruitment strategy the overall response rate in this study was low and the generality of these results remains to be established.
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Pain is a major symptom in 70% of patients with advanced cancer. We analyzed data of 251 cancer patients (142 men and 109 women aged 29-89 years, Karnofsky status 10-90, 65.7+/-13.9) for association of a reduced-function haplotype in the GTP cyclohydrolase 1 (GCH1) gene with cancer pain therapy. ⋯ Thus, reduced GCH1 upregulation, here conferred by non-coding and non-splice site GCH1 variants known to lead to decreased tetrahydrobiopterin expression, delays the need for opioid therapy in cancer. This suggests the future possibility of using partial GCH1 blockade or BH4 inhibition as a prophylactic to prevent or delay the development of cancer pain.
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Dilute capsaicin produces a differential effect on incision-related pain behaviors depending upon the test; it reduces heat hyperalgesia and guarding pain but not mechanical hyperalgesia. This suggests that common mechanisms for heat hyperalgesia and guarding pain occur, and distinct mechanisms exist for mechanical hyperalgesia. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of capsaicin treatment on the activity of cutaneous nociceptors sensitized by incision to understand the mechanisms for the selective action of dilute capsaicin on incisional pain. ⋯ Neither mechanical hyperalgesia nor mechanosensitivity of nociceptors was affected by capsaicin, suggesting that the concentration of capsaicin used in this study did not cause fiber degeneration. These results demonstrate that nociceptors desensitized by capsaicin contribute to heat hyperalgesia and guarding pain after plantar incision. These putative TRPV1-expressing C-fibers are sensitized to heat and acid after incision, and the transduction of heat and chemical stimuli after plantar incision is impaired by dilute capsaicin.
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In this study, we examined the relationship between astrocyte activation in the cuneate nucleus (CN) and behavioral hypersensitivity after chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the median nerve. In addition, we also examined the effects of pre-emptive treatment with a number of drugs on astrocyte activation and hypersensitivity development in this model. Using immunohistochemistry and immunoblotting, little glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP; an astrocyte marker) immunoreactivity was detected in the CN of the normal rats. ⋯ Animals received MK-801 (glutamate N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist), clonidine (alpha(2)-adrenoreceptor agonist), tetrodotoxin (TTX, sodium channel blocker) or lidocaine (local anesthetic) 30 min prior to median nerve CCI. Pre-treatment with MK-801, TTX, and 2% lidocaine, but not clonidine, attenuated GFAP immunoreactivity and behavioral hypersensitivity following median nerve injury. In conclusion, suppressing reactions to injury, such as the generation of ectopic discharges and activation of NMDA receptors, can decrease astrocyte activation in the CN and attenuate neuropathic pain sensations.