European journal of pain : EJP
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Pain ratings are almost ubiquitous in pain assessment, but their variability is high. Low correlations of continuous/numerical rating scales with categorical scales suggest that individuals associate different sensations with the same number on a scale, jeopardizing the interpretation of statistical results. We analysed individual conceptions of rating scales and whether these conceptions can be utilized in the analysis of ratings of experimental stimuli in pain-free healthy individuals and people with reoccurring/persistent pain. ⋯ The present results provide a novel approach to incorporate individual conceptualizations of pain descriptors, which can induce large distortions in the analysis of pain ratings, in pain assessment. The approach can be used to achieve better pain estimates, representing individual conceptions of pain and achieving a better comparability between individuals but also between pain-free persons and patients with chronic pain. Particularly, in clinical settings this could improve quantification of perceived pain and the patient-clinician communication.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Perioperative intravenous low-dose ketamine for neuropathic pain after major lower back surgery: A randomized, placebo-controlled study.
Chronic pain after major lower back surgery is frequent. We investigated in adults the effect of perioperative low-dose ketamine on neuropathic lower back pain, assessed by the DN4 questionnaire, 6 and 12 months after major lower back surgery. ⋯ Registered by Dr Christoph Czarnetzki as principal investigator on February 20, 2008 at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT00618423).
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Comparison of efficacy of diclofenac and tramadol in relieving pain in patients of acute pancreatitis: A randomized parallel group double blind active controlled pilot study.
Opioids and non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are commonly used for pain relief in acute pancreatitis (AP). Opioids carry risk of sphincter of oddi constriction. Although diclofenac prevents post endoscopic retrograde cholangio-pancreatography (ERCP) pancreatitis, few reports of diclofenac associated AP are also present. Although, both tramadol and diclofenac are commonly used for pain relief in AP, no study has evaluated their comparative efficacy and safety. ⋯ There are no studies that have compared the safety and efficacy of two commonly used analgesics for pain relief in patients with AP. We found that both diclofenac and tramadol are equally effective in decreasing the pain associated with AP. There is also no significant difference in the incidence of side effects between both the groups. Hence both diclofenac and tramadol can be used safely and effectively for pain control in AP.