Advances in psychosomatic medicine
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Patients with both chronic pain and substance use disorders are increasingly encountered in a variety of treatment settings. The treatment of these patients raises a number of ethical and patient care issues. Consultation-liaison psychiatrists possess the knowledge and skills to constructively address these issues. ⋯ The core conflict of beneficence and nonmaleficence will be explored in relation to the concepts of autonomy, justice, respect for persons, confidentiality, and informed consent. The thesis of this discussion focuses on the clinician's desire to provide compassionate care and relieve suffering, which sometimes conflicts with the clinician's desire to improve functioning, extend longevity, and enrich quality of life. A harm reduction model for clinical decision making is summarized.
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Complex regional pain syndromes (CRPS) types I and II are neuropathic pain disorders that involve dysfunction of the peripheral and central nervous system. CRPS type I and type II were known formerly as reflex sympathetic dystrophy and causalgia, respectively. ⋯ In particular, the precise mechanism of the sympathetic dysfunction as well as the nature of the psychological dysfunction commonly observed in patients with CRPS has been the subject of considerable debate. Current strides in our understanding of the pathophysiology of this disease have improved treatment options.
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Opioids are a viable treatment for chronic pain, but their use requires individualization, specified treatment goals, and patient education. Opioid responsiveness is influenced by patient-centered characteristics, including a predisposition to opioid side effects, psychological distress, and opioid use history; pain-centered characteristics, which involve the temporal pattern, rapidity of onset, severity, and type of pain; and drug-centered characteristics relating to the impact of specific types of opioids on specific patients. ⋯ Controversy exists over 1) the long-term use of opioids for non-cancer pain, and patients receiving opioids for long periods must be monitored carefully for signs of addictive and aberrant behavior, 2) the impact of opioid therapy on emotional depression in patients with chronic pain, and 3) whether opioid therapy causes cognitive impairment in the elderly. Our ability to determine the validity of such assertions and the exact role of opioids in the treatment of chronic pain will benefit from further study.
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The neurobiology of pain has had extensive research directed at identifying the mechanisms of nociceptive transmission and integration. Clinical conditions of chronic pain including phantom limb pain cannot be explained without an understanding of the complex mechanisms of pain regulation. An overview of the neurobiological organization of the nociceptive system, from different pain fiber types to subcortical and cortical experiential centers, is presented, along with a brief description of the known cross talk within the system and between pain pathways and those for other information. Finally, interactions between affective, executive, and cognitive processes and pain experiences are described briefly.
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In the 1991 Gulf War less than 150 of nearly 700,000 deployed US troops were killed in action. Today, however, over 1 in 7 US veterans of the war has sought federal healthcare for related-health concerns, and fully 17% of UK Gulf War veterans describe themselves as suffering from the 'Gulf War syndrome', a set of poorly defined and heterogeneous ailments consisting mainly of chronic pain, fatigue, depression and other symptoms. Even though over 250 million dollars of federally funded medical research has failed to identify a unique syndrome, the debate regarding potential causes continues and has included oil well smoke, contagious infections, exposure to chemical and biological warfare agents, and posttraumatic stress disorder. ⋯ Is there a way to prevent or mitigate subsequent postwar symptoms and associated depression and disability? We argue that while idiopathic symptoms are certain to occur following any war, a population-based approach to postwar healthcare can mitigate the impact of postwar syndromes and foster societal, military, and veteran trust. This article delineates the model, describes its epidemiological foundations, and details examples of how it is being adopted and improved as part of the system of care for US military personnel, war veterans and families. A scientific test of the model's overall effectiveness is difficult, yet healthcare systems for combatants and their families are already being put to pragmatic tests as troops return from war in Iraq and Afghanistan and from other military challenges.