Journal of pain research
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Journal of pain research · Jan 2015
Efficacy of needle-placement technique in radiofrequency ablation for treatment of lumbar facet arthropathy.
Many studies have assessed the efficacy of radiofrequency ablation to denervate the facet joint as an interventional means of treating axial low-back pain. In these studies, varying procedural techniques were utilized to ablate the nerves that innervate the facet joints. To date, no comparison studies have been performed to suggest superiority of one technique or even compare the prevalence of side effects and complications. ⋯ The advanced Australian technique provides a significant benefit over the early Australian technique for the treatment of lumbar facet pain, both in magnitude and duration of pain relief.
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Journal of pain research · Jan 2015
Low-dose naloxone provides an abuse-deterrent effect to buprenorphine.
In developmental research, plasma buprenorphine concentrations comparable to a 2 mg buprenorphine-naloxone (BN) sublingual tablet have been achieved with a 0.75 mg dose of BN buccal film, a small, bioerodible polymer film for application to mucosal membranes. This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, single-dose, four-period crossover study in opioid-dependent subjects with chronic pain receiving >100 mg oral morphine equivalents daily who experienced withdrawal following a naloxone challenge dose. The objective of the study was to determine if intravenous (IV) naloxone doses of 0.1 and 0.2 mg would produce a withdrawal response when coadministered with a 0.75 mg IV dose of buprenorphine. ⋯ By 15 minutes postdose, the mean change in Clinical Opioid Withdrawal Scale (COWS) score from predose was 3.0 for placebo, 6.9 for buprenorphine, 9.8 for BN 0.1 mg, and 12.4 for BN 0.2 mg. The mean COWS score with each active treatment was significantly greater than placebo (P<0.001), and the mean COWS score for each of the naloxone-containing treatments was significantly greater than for buprenorphine alone (P<0.001). Naloxone doses as low as 0.1 mg added an abuse-deterrent effect to a 0.75 mg IV dose of buprenorphine.
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Journal of pain research · Jan 2015
Grading the intensity of nondental orofacial pain: identification of cutoff points for mild, moderate, and severe pain.
When assessing pain in clinical practice, clinicians often label pain as mild, moderate, and severe. However, these categories are not distinctly defined, and are often used arbitrarily. Instruments for pain assessment use more sophisticated scales, such as a 0-10 numerical rating scale, and apart from pain intensity assess pain-related interference and disability. The aim of the study was to identify cutoff points for mild, moderate, and severe nondental orofacial pain using a numerical rating scale, a pain-related interference scale, and a disability measurement. ⋯ The cutoff points established in this study can discriminate in pain intensity categories reasonably well, and showed a significant difference in most of the outcome measures used.
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Journal of pain research · Jan 2015
Sex differences in experimental measures of pain sensitivity and endogenous pain inhibition.
It has been suggested that increased pain sensitivity and disruption of endogenous pain inhibitory processes may account, at least in part, for the greater prevalence and severity of chronic pain in women compared to men. However, previous studies addressing this topic have produced mixed findings. This study examined sex differences in pain sensitivity and inhibition using quantitative sensory testing (QST), while also considering the influence of other important factors such as depressive symptoms and sleep quality. ⋯ This remained true even when accounting for sex differences in depressive symptoms and sleep quality. The results of this study suggest that women may be more pain sensitive and possess less-efficient endogenous pain inhibitory capacity compared with men. Whether interventions that decrease pain sensitivity and enhance pain inhibition in women ultimately improve their clinical pain outcomes is an area of research that deserves additional attention in the future.
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Journal of pain research · Jan 2015
Pregabalin for the treatment of postoperative pain: results from three controlled trials using different surgical models.
To evaluate the efficacy and safety of pregabalin (150 or 300 mg/d) as an adjunctive therapy for the treatment of postoperative pain. ⋯ There were no significant differences between pregabalin and placebo with respect to the primary pain intensity measure in each of the three clinical trials. These studies encompass a large dataset (1,233 patients in total), and their results should be considered when assessing pregabalin's effectiveness in postoperative pain. Further studies are required to determine the potential pain-reducing benefit of pregabalin in the postoperative setting.