Clin Exp Rheumatol
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Fibromyalgia (FM) has been associated with affective spectrum disorders and other chronic pain disorders, which tend to co-occur in individuals and co-aggregate among families. The objective of our study was to investigate the genetic risk factors associated with the presence of related symptoms and with disease severity in subjects affected with FM. ⋯ Our findings indicate a role of the TACR1 gene in the development of sicca syndrome in subjects affected with FM.
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Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a highly painful, limb-confined condition that usually arises after a trauma although its causes remain unknown. It is associated with a particularly poor quality of life, and considerable healthcare and societal costs. Its distinct combination of abnormalities includes limb-confined inflammation and tissue hypoxia, sympathetic dysregulation, small fibre damage, serum autoantibodies, central sensitisation and cortical reorganisation, which place it at the crossroads of disciplines including rheumatology, pain medicine and neurology. ⋯ This review summarises the currently available treatments. The therapeutic approach is multidisciplinary, and involves educating patients about the condition, sustaining or restoring limb function, reducing pain, and providing psychological support. This paper describes the systemic drug treatments, grouped on the basis of their real or presumed antinociceptive mechanisms and reported actions without making any formal distinction between CRPS types I and II.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Web/Internet-based telemonitoring of a randomized controlled trial evaluating the time-integrated effects of a 24-week multicomponent intervention on key health outcomes in patients with fibromyalgia.
The aims of the study were to assess the efficacy of a multicomponent intervention and evaluate the feasibility and user acceptance of an internet-based home telemedical surveillance system for the evaluation of pain and other key health outcomes in patients with fibromyalgia (FM). ⋯ The multicomponent approach to FM was effective in treating the key symptoms and maintaining the improvements in the short term, and telemonitoring proved to be an easyto-use solution for patient-centred data acquisition.
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Emerging evidence associates fibromyalgia (FM) with pain system dysfunction. In this study, using laser evoked potentials (LEPs) and paired laser stimuli, we tested excitability in the pain matrices and sought possible changes in patients with FM. ⋯ Objective evidence from increased conditioned Aδ-LEP amplitudes reflecting hyperexcitability in the pain matrices in FM, provides diagnostically useful information and might help in developing new therapeutic approaches.
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Multicenter Study
Self-reported childhood maltreatment, lifelong traumatic events and mental disorders in fibromyalgia syndrome: a comparison of US and German outpatients.
The robustness of findings on retrospective self-reports of childhood maltreatment and lifetime traumatic experiences of adults with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) has not been demonstrated by transcultural studies. This is the first transcultural study to focus on the associations between FMS, childhood maltreatment, lifetime psychological traumas, and potential differences between countries adjusting for psychological distress. ⋯ The study demonstrated the transcultural robustness of findings on the association of adult FMS with self-reports of childhood maltreatment and lifelong traumatic experiences. These associations are mainly explained by current psychological distress.