The Clinical journal of pain
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Comparative Study
A comparison of physician and nonphysician acupuncture treatment for chronic low back pain.
Although up to a third of the 10,000 acupuncturists in the United States are medical doctors, little is known about the acupuncture techniques they use or how their practices compare with those of nonphysician licensed acupuncturists. This is the first study providing descriptive data on physician acupuncture and comparison to nonphysician acupuncture. ⋯ This study provides new information about the nature of physician acupuncture practice in the United States and how it compares to acupuncture provided by nonphysician licensed acupuncturists. Further research is necessary to determine if the different types of acupuncture provided by physicians and nonphysician acupuncturists affect treatment outcomes and costs for patients with chronic low back pain.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Documented and self-reported child abuse and adult pain in a community sample.
To examine the association of chronic pain in young adults with childhood exposure to maltreatment and to determine whether depressive symptoms mediate such an association. ⋯ Overall, results show an association between self-reported sexual abuse history and adult pain complaints in this general population sample, which was not attributable to symptoms of depression at the time of such reports.
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Review Meta Analysis
Are reports of childhood abuse related to the experience of chronic pain in adulthood? A meta-analytic review of the literature.
Recent empirical evidence suggests that childhood abuse may be related to the experience of chronic pain in adulthood. To date, a systematic quantitative review of the literature has not been presented. ⋯ Results provide evidence that individuals who report abusive or neglectful childhood experiences are at increased risk of experiencing chronic pain in adulthood relative to individuals not reporting abuse or neglect in childhood.
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Clinical experiences as well as specific investigations show that pain and sleep disturbances are closely correlated. The aims of this review are first to describe sleep disturbances related to painful medical diseases and analgesics and secondly to propose management possibilities for these sleep disturbances. ⋯ If many factors, including pain, disease process per se, as well as medication, could disturb sleep, sleep disturbances may also adversely affect the natural course of the painful disease. Improving sleep quantity and quality in patients with painful disorders may break this vicious circle and as consequence enhance the patients' overall health and quality of life.
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Sacroiliac joint dysfunction is believed to be a significant source of low back and posterior pelvic pain. ⋯ A reliable examination technique to identify the sacroiliac joint as a source of low back pain seems to be pain relief following a radiologically guided injection of a local anaesthetic into the sacroiliac joint. Most patients respond to non-operative treatment. Patients who do not respond to non-operative treatment should be considered for operative sacroiliac joint stabilization.