Current medical research and opinion
-
Many chronic pain patients have multiple etiologies for their pain, and accurate characterization of pain qualities and pain relief is essential for managing their pain. The ability to utilize a validated tool for assessing pain qualities and for identifying unique analgesic therapy effects on different pain qualities may assist clinicians in devising an appropriate treatment regimen. The Neuropathic Pain Scale (NPS) is a novel pain metric for characterizing pain in 10 dimensions. ⋯ Significant reduction in the intensity of commonly reported pain qualities in patients with neuropathic and non-neuropathic chronic pain due to low-back pain, osteoarthritis, post-herpetic neuralgia, and painful diabetic neuropathy were achieved. The NPS offers clinicians a reliable means to accurately identify pain qualities associated with each individual patient and to target and assess the efficacy of various therapeutic options on those pain components. Utilizing the NPS, the lidocaine patch 5% was effective in treating chronic pain of both neuropathic and non-neuropathic origins suggesting that a given treatment's effect on various pain qualities may be consistent across pain types.
-
Editorial
Introduction: chronic pain studies of the lidocaine patch 5% using the Neuropathic Pain Scale.
The manifestation of pain in any individual patient may result from a variety of underlying mechanisms that also may vary from one disease state to another. Global measures of pain intensity and relief are inadequate for characterizing specific pain qualities or identifying the unique effects of pain treatments on different pain qualities. The Neuropathic Pain Scale (NPS) is a recently developed measure designed to assess distinct pain qualities and may allow differentiation of therapeutic effects, even in cases where global pain response may be similar. Three studies are presented that provide preliminary evidence for the utility of the NPS for characterizing distinct pain qualities and changes in pain qualities in patients treated with the lidocaine patch 5% for a variety of neuropathic and non-neuropathic chronic pain conditions, including low-back pain, osteoarthritis, post-herpetic neuralgia, and painful diabetic neuropathy.
-
Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Lidocaine patch 5% and its positive impact on pain qualities in osteoarthritis: results of a pilot 2-week, open-label study using the Neuropathic Pain Scale.
To determine the impact of the lidocaine patch 5% on distinct pain qualities associated with osteoarthritis (OA) through use of the Neuropathic Pain Scale (NPS), an assessment tool designed to assess intensity of various pain qualities (i.e.sharp, dull). ⋯ In patients with moderate-to-severe OA of the knee, 2 weeks of treatment with the lidocaine patch 5% significantly reduces the intensity of pain qualities as measured by all 4 NPS composite measures. Our results coincide with previously reported improvements in pain and physical function in the same patient population, as measured by the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities OA Index. Measuring the various qualities of pain appears to be a valid approach for assessing clinical outcomes in the treatment of OA pain. Pain measures such as the NPS can capture the multi-dimensional properties of a patient's pain experience and may offer clinicians the possibility to identify differential effects of analgesic treatments on various pain qualities associated with OA.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Epidural block with ropivacaine and bupivacaine for elective caesarean section: maternal cardiovascular parameters, comfort and neonatal well-being.
To determine cardiovascular effects and neonatal outcome of ropivacaine 0.75% and bupivacaine 0.5% for elective epidural caesarean section. ⋯ Both drugs produced equally satisfactory epidural block. Although ropivacaine 0.75% resulted in a greater decrease of maternal heart rate, this effect did not influence neonatal well-being. Both ropivacaine 0.75% and bupivacaine 0.5% can therefore be recommended for epidural anaesthesia in elective caesarean section.