The Clinical journal of pain
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Multicenter Study
Chronic Pain and Heart Rate Variability in a Cross-Sectional Occupational Sample: Evidence for Impaired Vagal Control.
The vagus nerve influences the modulation of pain. Chronic pain is associated with disturbance of the descendent inhibitory pathway (DIP). Heart rate variability (HRV) is a proxy measure for vagal activity and may reflect dysfunction of the DIP. We aimed to investigate the association of HRV and pain in individuals with and without chronic pain. ⋯ Our results suggest that the DIP indexed by vagal activity operationalized as RMSSD is disturbed in persons with chronic pain. Furthermore, the correlations between RMSSD and pain are different between those without and those with chronic pain. The findings are discussed, emphasizing changes in brain activity and the comorbid dysregulation of emotion in patients with chronic pain, to provide implications for the treatment of chronic pain.
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Pain-related Sleep Disturbance - A Prospective Study with Repeated Measures.
Pain has been found to be associated with poor sleep quality, awakenings, and shorter sleep time. There is a need to understand the relationship of pain and sleep over time to adequately manage the pain disorder and its consequences. The objectives of this study were to establish the prevalence of sleep disturbance in patients with acute or persistent low back pain (LBP), to investigate the correlation between pain and sleep disturbance and to explore the influence of pain on sleep disturbance. ⋯ This study used repeated measures of both pain and sleep disturbance. The results were in line with previous research, confirming that sleep disturbance was found in the majority of patients with LBP. Pain and sleep measures were significantly correlated, and there was an increased risk of reporting sleep disturbance after experiencing LBP.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Sympathetic Dysfunction in Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain and Failed Back Surgery Syndrome.
Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is defined as pain that persists longer than 12 weeks and is often attributed to degenerative or traumatic conditions of the spine. Failed back surgery syndrome is a condition in which chronic pain persists after spinal surgery. Electrodiagnostic studies can be used to confirm the diagnosis of lumbosacral radiculopathy, but other diagnostic methods are often needed to assess sympathetic nervous system dysfunction. ⋯ It was concluded that the sympathetic nervous system is affected in CLBP and FBSS patients with abnormalities in SSR and that the dysfunction of sympathetic nervous system may contribute to the intensity and chronicity of pain in these groups of patients. Moreover, a strong association was found between SSR and functional disabilities in these patients.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Triggering Descending Pain Inhibition by Observing Ourselves or a Loved-one in Pain.
Recent studies demonstrate that empathy-evoked brain responses include the activation of brainstem structures responsible for triggering descending pain inhibition. Unfortunately, direct evidence linking empathy for pain and descending inhibitory controls (conditioned pain modulation) is lacking. This study, therefore, aimed to determine if the observation of ourselves or a loved-one in pain could activate descending pain inhibition without exposure to a noxious stimulation; which is otherwise required. ⋯ This study showed that observing someone in pain triggers descending pain inhibition. Results also demonstrate how empathy and gender are affecting pain modulation mechanisms.
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Ineffective analgesic decisions in the home may jeopardize the safety and comfort of children, yet little is known about factors influencing parental decisions. This study explored how parents' analgesic understanding influenced their hypothetical decisions to give opioids when faced with important trade-off dilemmas where pain and adverse drug event (ADE) symptoms were both present. ⋯ These data suggest that gist understanding of ADE seriousness, not just its possible presence, is needed to facilitate safe analgesic decisions. Importantly, higher overall ADE understanding did not influence parents' opioid decisions in the presence of high pain and absence of ADEs. Thus, risk information about specific ADEs is unlikely to dissuade parents from efforts to manage pain but may improve their decisions if ADEs should occur.