The Clinical journal of pain
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The objectives of this study were to use a self-report pain scale to examine child pain treatment thresholds after major surgery (i.e., the level of pain they are comfortable with before requiring analgesia), as well as to examine agreement between mother-, nurse-, and child-rated pain treatment thresholds. ⋯ Pain treatment thresholds seem to be lower in children after major as compared with minor surgery. Parents and nurses are not accurate in rating child pain treatment thresholds. Parents tended to overestimate their child's pain treatment threshold, whereas nurses were less consistent in their scoring.
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Physicians and patients alike find it easy to divide pain into mental pain and physical pain. But close examination of this distinction shows that it fails on clinical and philosophical grounds. The body is not a passive conduit for information about tissue damage. ⋯ The dualism of mental and physical pain cannot be overcome if the biological individual is considered in isolation. Mental and physical pain can only be reconciled if their common interpersonal roots are understood. This interpersonal view of pain can help clarify some clinical and moral dilemmas in the care of patients with pain.
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Multicenter Study
Surgical patients' fear of addiction to pain medication: the effect of an educational program for clinicians.
The appropriate and optimal use of analgesics is essential for the adequate management of postoperative pain. Concern that use of opioid analgesics contributes to the development of addiction is a barrier to effective pain relief. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of fear of addiction in postoperative patients in relation to surgical outcomes and staff participation in an educational program. ⋯ Fear of addiction is not prevalent among postoperative patients, yet clinician education can further decrease the proportion of surgical patients who fear of addiction to pain medication.
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The aim of the current study was to examine the relation between catastrophizing and pain intensity, pain-related disability, and psychological distress in a group of patients with chronic pain, controlling for the level of physical impairment. Furthermore, it was examined whether these relations are the same for three subgroups of chronic pain patients: those with chronic low back pain, those with chronic musculoskeletal pain other than low back pain, and those with miscellaneous chronic pain complaints, low back pain and musculoskeletal pain excluded. ⋯ It was concluded that for different subgroups of chronic pain patients, catastrophizing plays a crucial role in the chronic pain experience, significantly contributing to the variance of pain intensity, pain-related disability, and psychological distress. These relations are not confounded by the level of physical impairment. Some clinical implications of the results are discussed. Finally, the authors concluded that these results support the validity of a cognitive-behavioral conceptualization of chronic pain-related disability.
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To evaluate the cardiorespiratory endurance (CRE) and physical activity level of patients with chronic pain compared with healthy subjects. ⋯ Data on CRE and the physical activity level of patients with chronic pain obtained in this study show that chronic pain may have a greater impact on male than female patients. Sociocultural factors are probably at the origin of this phenomenon.