European journal of pain : EJP
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The aim was to determine the prospective association between use of pain medication - due to musculoskeletal pain in the low back, neck/shoulder and hand/wrist - and long-term sickness absence. ⋯ Use of medication due to musculoskeletal pain is prospectively associated with long-term sickness absence even when adjusted for pain intensity. Use of pain medication can be a red flag to be aware of in the prevention of sickness absence.
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Patients with fibromyalgia (FM) exhibit significant clinical heterogeneity, in terms of physical, social and psychological functions, as well as therapeutic responses. Here, we examined FM patients in terms of pain, physical, social and psychological variables to identify clinical subgroups that may be predictive of treatment patterns. ⋯ FM patients can be clustered into four distinct subgroups based on clinically measurable variables - pain, physical involvement, psychological function and social support. These subgroups had different clinical symptoms and medication profiles.
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This study aimed to investigate the effects of fear of pain (FOP) and threat on attentional biases, using eye-tracking methods. ⋯ Interventions that change attention towards pain to reduce vigilance and subsequent avoidance may be indicated to improve pain outcomes.
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Temporal summation of pain sensation is pivotal both in physiological and pathological nociception. In humans, it develops in parallel with temporal summation of the nociceptive withdrawal reflex (NWR) of the lower limb, an objective representation of the temporal processing of nociceptive signals into the spinal cord. ⋯ The study demonstrated that TST of the NWR involves a selective deactivation of PCC.
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The question of hormonal dysregulation in patients with CRPS I in whole was investigated very scantily. There are only a few studies concerning catecholamines, oestrogens and endorphins independently. Other hormones were studied in patients with different other chronic pain conditions. Considering the accumulation of sufficient knowledge about the role of disadaptation processes in CRPS I pathogenesis and the role of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal and hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian systems in the process of adaptation it was logical and consistent to define the role of hormonal dysregulation of these systems in patients with CRPS I. ⋯ This study determined the role of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal and hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian systems in pathogenesis of CRPS I.