Regional anesthesia and pain medicine
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Despite a growing awareness about the importance of gender equity and the rising number of women in medicine, women remain persistently underrepresented in pain medicine and anesthesiology. Pain medicine ranks among the bottom quartile of medical specialties in terms of female applicants, female trainees, and proportion of female practitioners. ⋯ Increased gender diversity among pain medicine physicians is vital to fostering excellence in pain research, education, and clinical care, as well as creating a high-quality work environment. Pain medicine stands at a crossroads as a specialty, and must examine reasons for its current gender gap and consider a call to action to address this important issue.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Jul 2018
Kindlin-1 Regulates Astrocyte Activation and Pain Sensitivity in Rats With Neuropathic Pain.
Astrocyte activation has been implicated in the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain, but the involvement of kindlin-1 in astrocyte activation and neuropathic pain has not yet been illustrated. Using a chronic constriction injury (CCI) rat model of neuropathic pain, we investigated the expression levels of kindlin-1 during neuropathic pain and the influences of kindlin-1 on regulating pain sensitivity. ⋯ Kindlin-1 may regulate pain sensitivity by affecting activated astrocytes in the spinal cord. Inhibition of kindlin-1 may provide a novel paradigm for the management of neuropathic pain.