The Clinical journal of pain
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This cross-sectional study evaluated the extent to which relations between employment status and emotional distress are mediated by pain-related and psychosocial measures among employed and unemployed persons with chronic pain. ⋯ Findings suggest that pain severity and the quality of specific experiences related to being employed or unemployed as opposed to employment status per se correspond directly to levels of emotional distress reported by some persons with chronic pain.
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The specific objective for this research was to determine initial psychometric properties of the Faces Pain Scale (FPS) as a measure of pain intensity for use with the elderly. ⋯ These results provide preliminary support for the construct validity, strong ordinal properties, and strong test-retest reliability of the FPS with a sample of elderly individuals. The equality of intervals in the FPS has not been fully supported in the older adult, but given the complexity of the task used, the results should not be considered to be refuted. Further evaluation of the FPS with experimental and clinical pain conditions and comparison with other standard pain assessment instruments in the elderly population are warranted.
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To assess the ability of the International Association for the Study of Pain Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) diagnostic criteria and associated features to discriminate between CRPS patients and patients with painful diabetic neuropathy. ⋯ Poorly understood disorders lacking prototypical signs/symptoms and diagnostic laboratory testing must rely on the development of reliable diagnostic guidelines. The results of this study should assist in the further refinement of the CRPS diagnostic criteria.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
A comparison a amitriptyline and maprotiline in the treatment of painful polyneuropathy in diabetics and nondiabetics.
To compare amitriptyline and maprotiline in the treatment of painful polyneuropathy in diabetics and nondiabetics. ⋯ From the present results and the literature, it is concluded that tricyclic antidepressants with a pharmacologic profile similar to amitriptyline are the most effective drugs in the treatment of polyneuropathy pain in both diabetic and nondiabetic patients.
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The purpose of this study was to determine the distribution of referred pain from the lumbar zygapophyseal joints (L1/2 to L5/S1) and the medial branches of the lumbar dorsal rami (Th12 to L5) in a large number of patients with chronic low back pain. ⋯ A total of 71 joints and 91 medial branches were studied in 48 patients. The distribution of referred pain from the L1/2 to L5/S1 zygapophyseal joints, and the medial branches of the dorsal rami from L1 to L5 were similar for each level stimulated, and the overlap of referred pain between each level was considerable.