European journal of pain : EJP
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Emerging research suggests that perceiving injustice can compound the suffering of chronic pain, while perceiving justice serves as a positive psychological resource in this context. However, little more is currently known about the function of justice beliefs, particularly in the context of acute pain. The present study undertook this investigation, using cold pressor methodology to investigate whether trusting in the fairness of the world would help someone to cope with short-term pain. ⋯ The observed gender differences may be attributed to gender variations in cognitive appraisals of the task. Overall, while perceived injustice may be undesirable and a potential target for intervention, perceived justice is not necessarily a desired cognition in pain. Research is needed to replicate and extend this emerging research.
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Numerous national guidelines have been issued to assist general practitioners' safe analgesic prescribing. Their effectiveness is unclear. The objective of this study was to examine trends in general practitioners' prescribing behaviour in relation to national guidelines. ⋯ Significant prescribing changes occurred when national advice and guidelines were issued. The effectiveness of this advice may vary depending upon the content and method of dissemination. Further evaluation of the optimal methods for delivering prescribing guidance is required.
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In healthy humans, analgesia to blunt pressure develops in the ipsilateral forehead during various forms of limb pain. The aim of the current study was to determine whether this analgesic response is induced by ultraviolet B radiation (UVB), which evokes signs of peripheral sensitization, or by high-frequency electrical stimulation (HFS), which triggers signs of central sensitization. ⋯ HFS conditioning induced signs of central sensitization in the forearm and analgesia both in the ipsilateral forehead and the HFS-treated site. This ipsilateral analgesia was not due to peripheral sensitization or other non-specific effects, as it failed to develop after UVB conditioning. Thus, the supra-spinal mechanisms that evoke central sensitization might also trigger a hemilateral inhibitory pain modulation process. This inhibitory process could sharpen the boundaries of central sensitization or limit its spread.
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To better manage post-surgical pain, standardized analgesic protocols allow for rescue analgesia (RA). This study seeks to determine which pre- and post-surgical clinical and patient-related factors, in addition to post-surgical pain, may influence health care professional decisions on RA administration. ⋯ Health care decision making to administer RA might be influenced not only by post-surgical pain intensity but also by pre-surgical and surgical clinical factors, such as previous pain and type of anaesthesia. Patient-related psychological characteristics, such as pre-surgical fear and post-surgical anxiety, may also play a role in decision making on RA provision. Implications for practice are discussed.
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Numerous studies focus on intramuscular (i.m.) injection of hypertonic saline-induced muscle pain and nociception. The spatio-temporal characteristics and dynamic variation of spinal neuronal activities elicited by i.m. hypertonic saline remain unknown. ⋯ It is suggested that spinal nociceptive neuronal activities in superficial and deep layers may differently be modulated by endogenous descending facilitation and inhibition, respectively.