Der Schmerz
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Peripheral nerve blocks are currently performed relatively blind even in the most complex anatomical structures and physicians mostly rely on palpable anatomical landmarks on the surface. Ultrasound has become an indispensable part of the modern medical world and has long since found its way into almost all medical professions. More and more this trend also reaches interventional pain physicians as it is possible to accurately target structures, to track the needle course during the intervention and to visualize the spread of the local anesthetic. ⋯ A deep understanding of anatomy and its correlate in ultrasound images is one of the most important requirements for the successful use of these interventional techniques. Moreover, the safe performance of the procedure depends on the simultaneous hand-eye coordination. Nevertheless, despite the euphoria ultrasound technology should only be used in pain management with sufficient indications.
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The purpose of this study was to determine patients' travel distances to a tertiary paediatric pain clinic and to analyse the association between travel distance and the parents' occupational skill level and the patients' pain characteristics. ⋯ The association between travel distance and parental occupational skill level suggests that there is social injustice due to access barriers based on socioeconomic deprivation and education. An increase in the number of health care facilities for chronic pain in children would be a first step in rectifying this injustice.
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In 2013 palliative medicine (PM) will be integrated into the undergraduate curriculum as part of the mandatory education in German medical universities. The aim of this study is to determine the current state of implementation at German medical faculties (MF). ⋯ The implementation of the mandatory training in PM at MFs in Germany is inhomogeneous. Further steps include in particular the development of a competence-based curriculum and assessment.
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The term education can be understood here as informing the patient about the symptoms of the disease and the treatment. Patients with chronic pain require comprehensible information from the physician and beyond that esteem, encouragement and participation in decision-making processes. A successful patient-physician interaction is a quality ensuring element of the first degree. ⋯ The communicative duties of a physician are demanding and require practical training as can be reflected and practiced in the form of train-the-trainer seminars, workshops and Balint groups. It has been proven that competence in counselling techniques also has a positive effect on the experience of the physician in his profession. Pain patients can profit from information flyers, internet and interactive computer-based consulting systems if they fulfil basic standards, including topicality, neutrality, biopsychosocial understanding of disease and preventive information.
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Systematic reviews have reported a wide range of prevalence rates for depressive, anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSD) in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) which have been partially explained by setting differences. No data are currently available on the prevalence of potential mental disorders depending on the medical specialty in Germany. ⋯ Potential mental disorders were frequent in FMS patients regardless of the medical specialty. All FMS patients of all types of clinical settings should be screened for mental disorders.