European journal of pain : EJP
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Pain intensity evaluation by self-report is difficult and biased in non-communicating people, which may contribute to inappropriate pain management. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) to evaluate pain intensity based on automated facial expression analysis has not been evaluated in clinical conditions. ⋯ These original findings represent a major step in the development of a fully automated, rapid, standardized and objective method based on facial expression analysis to measure pain and detect severe pain.
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Observational Study
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients with chronic pain in Germany: associations with expectations and control beliefs.
While the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting people's well-being worldwide, it may place a particularly high burden on people with chronic pain, as pain is known to be influenced by societal and psychological conditions. ⋯ This study underlines the importance of psychosocial factors in chronic pain and demonstrates that the societal and psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic can affect patients' pain and their ability to cope with it. The extent to which patients experience pain aggravation seems to interact with other psychological factors such as pain expectations and control beliefs.
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Verbascoside, a representative phenylethanoid glycoside, is widely distributed in plants and has various activities beneficial for human health. Although systemically administered verbascoside has an antinociceptive effect, little is known about the site and mechanism of its activity. The aim of the present study was to determine whether verbascoside attenuates neuropathic pain in the spinal cord and which pain regulatory systems are involved. ⋯ Currently available treatments for neuropathic pain have limited efficacy in most patients. Some natural products have favourable biological activities for long-term administration such as antioxidative and neuroprotective effects. Verbascoside inhibits spinal nociceptive transmission without serious side effects to the same degree as gabapentin, a first-line remedy for neuropathic pain. Natural products may be promising candidates for novel treatments of neuropathic pain.