Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
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A 47-year-old woman who underwent allogenic peripheral blood stem cell transplant developed withdrawal symptoms soon after Fentanyl 25 mcg/h patch was stopped, which has not been reported at this dose. Possible causes, such as the inhibition of CYP3A4 induced by cyclosporine causing elevations of serum fentanyl, are discussed.
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Evidence suggests that fibromyalgia (FM) is a centrally mediated pain disorder. Antidepressants, including electroconvulsive therapy, provide some symptomatic relief in FM and other pain disorders. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a new antidepressant treatment, which may also be useful in treating chronic pain. ⋯ These preliminary findings suggest a possible role for rTMS in treating FM.
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Comparative Study
Older and younger adults in pain management programs in the United States: differences and similarities.
1) To investigate health status of older (>or=60 years) and younger adults (<60 years) with chronic pain and to separately compare that with existing normative data; and 2) to examine more fully differences in health status between younger and older adults with chronic pain and explore their geographic variation across three multidisciplinary pain programs in the Pacific, Mountain, and New England regions of the United States. ⋯ Older adults with chronic pain differ in a number of important domains from younger adults with chronic pain: overall the former present with greater physical, and less psychosocial impairment.
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This article applied dual process models of stereotyping to illustrate how various psychological mechanisms may lead to unintentional provider bias in decisions about pain treatment. Stereotypes have been shown to influence judgments and behaviors by two distinct cognitive processes, automatic stereotyping and goal-modified stereotyping, which differ both in level of individual conscious control and how much they are influenced by the goals in an interaction. ⋯ We proposed a series of hypotheses that showed how these different processes may lead providers to contribute to disparities in pain treatment: 1) indirectly, by influencing the content and affective tone of the clinical encounter; and 2) directly, by influencing provider decision making. We also highlighted situations that may increase the likelihood that stereotype-based bias will occur and suggested directions for future research and interventions.