Der Schmerz
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Opioids are the oldest and most potent drugs for the treatment of severe pain but they are burdened by detrimental side effects, such as respiratory depression, addiction potential, sedation, nausea and constipation. Their clinical application is undisputed in the treatment of acute (e.g. perioperative) and cancer pain but their long-term use in chronic pain has met increasing criticism and has contributed to the current "opioid crisis". ⋯ The epidemic of opioid misuse has shown that there is a lack of fundamental knowledge about the characteristics and management of chronic pain, that conflicts of interest and validity of models must be more intensively considered in the context of drug development and that novel analgesics with less addictive potential are urgently needed. Currently, the most promising perspectives appear to be augmenting endogenous opioid actions and the selective activation of peripheral opioid receptors.
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Neuromodulatory approaches have enlarged the therapeutic armamentarium for the treatment of primary headaches such as migraine and cluster headache. While invasive devices are mainly used in patients with refractory and chronic conditions, non-invasive approaches are increasingly used in less severely affected patients with episodic headaches. This article critically reviews the literature focussing on recent controlled studies, provides recommendations on their use in clinical practice and strives to integrate them into present treatment regimes. As a relevant drawback, the number of controlled studies is limited with small cohorts included and marked methodological constraints, which hampers any direct comparison with pharmacological approaches.
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Comparative Study
[Treatment for chronic back pain? : Active multimodal, interdisciplinary pain therapy vs. physiotherapy-physical therapy for chronic back pain].
In industrialized countries, chronic back pain is referred to as the "number one common disease". ⋯ Treatment with MMSTh is superior to standard physiotherapy-physical. Due to the extensive, proven positive effect on many pain-causing and pain-preserving factors, multimodal pain centers should be used more frequently in chronic back pain patients.
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A patient with long-term fibromyalgia syndrome and concomitant post-traumatic stress disorder is reported. The relocation to a so-called external safe site resulted within a very short time in a sustained remission of the fibromyalgia syndrome, due to psychotherapeutic interventions. This shows that-according to the clinical guidelines-a psychiatric examination and, if necessary, targeted therapy of the psychiatric comorbidity is indispensable in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome.