Clinical rheumatology
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Clinical rheumatology · Sep 2006
Reliability and validity of the Italian version of the Chronic Pain Grade questionnaire in patients with musculoskeletal disorders.
The aim of this study is to analyse the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Chronic Pain Grade (CPG) questionnaire within a population of chronic musculoskeletal pain patients. The CPG questionnaire was adapted following the translation and back-translation methodologies. There were 576 patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain. ⋯ Discriminant validity, assessed by comparing the CPG dimensions in patients with and without other health conditions, showed that the CPG shows moderate association with the presence of co-morbidities. Furthermore, the CPG Disability Score was inversely correlated (p=0.01) to years of formal education. In conclusion, the Italian version of the CPG questionnaire has shown to be valid and reliable for evaluating the severity of chronic musculoskeletal pain, with metric properties in agreement with the original, widely used version.
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Clinical rheumatology · Sep 2006
Clinical TrialTreatment of complex regional pain syndrome type I of the hand with a series of intravenous regional sympathetic blocks with guanethidine and lidocaine.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of guanethidine and lidocaine in the treatment of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) type I of the hand. Seventeen patients, aged between 33 and 72 years, suffering from CRPS type I of the hand received two series of intravenous regional sympathetic block (Bier's block) sessions with guanethidine and lidocaine according to the following therapeutic protocol: (1) 5 sessions (once every second day) composed of intravenous regional administration of 15 mg guanethidine and 1 mg lidocaine/kg body weight each and (2) 20 sessions (twice a week) composed of intravenous regional administration of 10 mg guanethidine and 1 mg lidocaine/kg body weight each. ⋯ No side effects were observed. The above-described therapeutic protocol method resulted in excellent pain relief and full restoration of both function and range of movement of the affected extremity in 17 patients suffering from CRPS type I of the hand.
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Clinical rheumatology · Sep 2006
Toxic effects of povidone-iodine on synovial cell and articular cartilage.
The objective of this study was to investigate the toxic effects of povidone-iodine (PVI). A series of MTT assay of cultured synovial cells stimulated by PVI have been made. Test for assay of membrane-toxic effect of PVI and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) has also been carried out. ⋯ Fibrin deposition has been observed even in the synovium of 1-day stimulation. On the 7th day, a serum total iodine concentration has been 544 microg/dl, 4,440 IU/ml for CPK concentration, and 2,049 IU/ml for LDH concentration, while the control concentrations have been 7.1 microg/dl, 491 IU/ml, and 700 IU/ml, respectively. Our experiment has disclosed that PVI preparation is strongly cytotoxic to synovial cell and articular cartilage.