The Clinical journal of pain
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Comparative Study
A comparison of various risk screening methods in predicting discharge from opioid treatment.
Risk assessment and stratification has become an important aspect of the prescribing of opioids to patients with chronic pain. There is little empirical data available on the sensitivity and specificity of commonly used risk assessment tools. This paper describes 2 studies that compare the prediction capabilities of various risk assessment tools. ⋯ Overall, these studies indicate that not all risk assessment tools are equal in their ability to accurately predict future aberrant drug-related behavior. It may be that written risk assessment tools that use more subtle items are better suited to certain patient populations.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Meta Analysis
NGX-4010, a capsaicin 8% dermal patch, administered alone or in combination with systemic neuropathic pain medications, reduces pain in patients with postherpetic neuralgia.
Analyses of integrated data from 4 controlled postherpetic neuralgia studies evaluated the effect of NGX-4010, a capsaicin 8% patch, administered alone or together with systemic neuropathic pain medications. ⋯ A single 60-minute NGX-4010 treatment reduces PHN for up to 12 weeks regardless of concomitant systemic neuropathic pain medication use.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
A prospective randomized double-blinded pilot study to examine the effect of botulinum toxin type A injection versus Lidocaine/Depomedrol injection on residual and phantom limb pain: initial report.
Botulinum toxin type A (Botox) injection has been used to manage pain. However, it remains to be proved whether Botox injection is effective to relieve residual limb pain (RLP) and phantom limb pain (PLP). ⋯ Both Botox and Lidocaine/Depomedrol injections resulted in immediate improvement of RLP (not PLP) and pain tolerance, which lasted for 6 months in amputees who failed in conventional treatments.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Rapid local anesthesia in humans using minimally invasive microneedles.
This study tested the hypothesis that minimally invasive microneedles cause less pain during injection of lidocaine, but induce local anesthesia in humans with the same rapid onset and efficacy as intradermal lidocaine injection using hypodermic needles. ⋯ This study demonstrates for the first time that microneedle-based lidocaine injection is as rapid and as effective as hypodermic injection in inducing local anesthesia while resulting in significantly less pain during injection.
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We sought to describe sex differences in the prevalence of painful musculoskeletal conditions in men and women Veterans after deployment in Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (Iraq) (OEF-OIF). ⋯ To provide quality care to female Veterans, the VA must understand the impact of deployment on women's health. Our findings provide an important picture of the increasing prevalence of musculoskeletal conditions in the female Veteran population and highlight the importance of the VA targeting treatment programs that focus on issues of particular importance to women with musculoskeletal pain.