Der Schmerz
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There is neither a "gold standard" nor commonly approved therapy goals in postoperative pain therapy. In a multi-center study, more than 80% of all patients treated stated that they suffered from postoperative pain. Moreover, patients evaluated the pain therapy as significantly worse than other medical or nursing practices. Therefore, there is a need for optimization in therapy for acute pain. ⋯ The maximum pain values declared by the patients significantly decreased after the introduction of the "pain standard." The satisfaction with pain therapy significantly increased for the patients and for the providers. The reported minimum pain values of the patients did not change significantly. The costs of pain medicine slightly increased. In general, there was a positive effect of introducing a "pain standard" for patients and providers.
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Opioid dependence is a chronic mental disease with multifactorial etiology. The neurobiological theory of addiction focuses on the manipulation of the dopaminergic reward system as a basic property of substances with addictive potential including opioids. With regular opioid intake, the manipulation of the reward system results in a cognitive bias towards drug-related stimuli. ⋯ These biological factors are independent of the legal status of the individual opioid. Genetics also significantly influence the etiology. However, the assignment of this genetic influence is difficult because not only basic biological functions, but also personality traits and mental illnesses are genetically determined.
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One major concern of long-term opioid therapy (LTOT) for chronic noncancer pain (CNCP) is the risk of abuse of prescribed opioids. ⋯ The study is in line with the recommendations of the German national guidelines on long-term opioid therapy of chronic non-cancer pain (LONTS) to avoid concomitant prescription of tranquilizers for CNCP and to carefully select and monitor patients with depression and somatoform pain disorder.
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Occupational and social rehabilitation is influenced by perceived injustice as a result of injury. To assess perceived injustice, the Injustice Experience Questionnaire (IEQ) has been developed and is available in English. The aim of this study was to translate and culturally adapt the English version of the IEQ into German. ⋯ The study attests to the cultural and linguistic intelligibility and precision of the German translation of the IEQ. In a follow-up study, the translation should be validated in a larger sample of pain patients.