Pain management
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Efficacy of the topical 5% lidocaine medicated plaster in the treatment of chronic post-thoracotomy neuropathic pain.
To assess the efficacy of the topical 5% lidocaine medicated plaster (Versatis®, Grünenthal GmbH, Aachen, Germany) in patients with post-thoracotomy neuropathic pain. ⋯ The study included neurophysiological findings and confirmed the efficacy of the topical 5% lidocaine medicated plaster in patients with chronic post-thoracotomy neuropathic pain.
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We report a case of a 57-year-old male patient with intrathecal morphine pump failure who presented with psychosis as part of a clinical presentation of opioid withdrawal. The patient was being treated for chronic back pain with an intrathecal morphine pump for several years. ⋯ After opioid rotation with administration of oral oxycodone, the patient's psychosis improved dramatically within a few days, clinically confirming psychosis due to morphine withdrawal. Therefore, it is important for physicians to consider opioid withdrawal in patients experiencing isolated psychosis.
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Somatic symptom disorder (SSD) is a challenging condition to treat with chronic pain, a common and disabling symptom. We present a patient who received electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for SSD with significant improvement in pain and gastrointestinal symptoms. ⋯ Preliminary evidence suggests that ECT should be considered for treatment of SSD comorbid with major depressive disorder, when standard treatments fail. Further research is needed to clarify whether ECT can be used for SSD without associated depression.
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Effective pain management continues to baffle clinicians in spite of numerous evidence-based guidelines and standards, focused clinical interventions and standardized assessments. Reflective practice is a mindful approach to practice that grounds clinicians in the moment with the individual patient to ask questions and then to listen to the patient's message about their pain experience. ⋯ The paper uses a case study to illustrate how to apply reflective practice to integrate the interprofessional quality and safety competencies to provide patient-centered pain management. Applying reflective questions throughout the care experience by all members of the healthcare team provides a mindful approach that focuses care on the individual patient.
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Dr Stefan Friedrichsdorf speaks to Commissioning Editor Jade Parker: Stefan Friedrichsdorf, MD, is medical director of the Department of Pain Medicine, Palliative Care and Integrative Medicine at Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota in Minneapolis/St Paul, MN, USA, home to one of the largest and most comprehensive programs of its kind in the country. The pain and palliative care program is devoted to control acute, chronic/complex and procedural pain for inpatients and outpatients in close collaboration with all pediatric subspecialties at Children's Minnesota. ⋯ Integrative medicine provides and teaches integrative, nonpharmacological therapies (such as massage, acupuncture/acupressure, biofeedback, aromatherapy and self-hypnosis) to provide care that promotes optimal health and supports the highest level of functioning in all individual children's activities. In this second part of the interview they discuss multimodal (opioid-sparing) analgesia for hospitalized children in pain and how analgesics and adjuvant medications, interventions, rehabilitation, psychological and integrative therapies act synergistically for more effective pediatric pain control with fewer side effects than a single analgesic or modality.