The Clinical journal of pain
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Comparative Study
Screening for yellow flags in first-time acute low back pain: reliability and validity of a Norwegian version of the Acute Low Back Pain Screening Questionnaire.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability and construct and predictive validity of the Norwegian version of the Acute Low Back Pain Screening Questionnnaire (ALBPSQ). ⋯ The findings of this study provide further evidence of the utility of the ALBPSQ in clinical studies and in primary care settings (general practitioners, chiropractors, and physiotherapists) to help identify patients at risk of developing chronic LBP and disability.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Women suffer more short and long-term pain than men after major thoracotomy.
Prolonged activation of pain centers is a proposed cause of chronic pain syndromes. Women are at particular risk for chronic pain as they tend to more readily detect pain and to attenuate it less than men. We set out to determine whether sex affected pain and recovery after major surgery by analyzing data originally collected to determine the effect of the timing of epidural analgesia on long-term outcome after thoracotomy. ⋯ Women have a distinctly different pain experience than men after thoracic surgery and probably require novel and/or multimodal analgesic regimens to improve their comfort.
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Invasive procedures have long held a place in the therapeutic armamentarium for the management of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). However, this has evolved considerably, particularly as research into the mechanisms of CRPS has called into question long-held presumptions about the key role of sympathetic dysfunction in the syndrome. This review summarizes some of the key information currently available about interventional treatments, including nerve blocks, spinal cord and peripheral nerve stimulation, chemical and surgical sympathectomies, and deep brain stimulation. The potential roles for these procedures in facilitating functional rehabilitation goals that are primary to the treatment of CRPS are emphasized.
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This review summarizes current information about diagnosis and treatment of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) in children. Although it has been widely held that CRPS in children is intrinsically different from adults, there appear to be relatively few differences. However, there is a marked preponderance of lower extremity cases in children. ⋯ Clinical judgment dictates the extent of medication or interventional therapy added to the treatment to facilitate rehabilitation. In many ways, the approach to the treatment of children mirrors that of adults, with perhaps greater restraint in the use of medications and invasive procedures. The rehabilitation of children with CRPS, like that of adults with CRPS, needs further rigorous investigation.