Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
-
To evaluate the psychometric properties of two commonly used low back pain (LBP) disability questionnaires in a sample solely comprising community-dwelling older adults. ⋯ It appears that both questionnaires have excellent test-retest reliability and good construct validity when used to evaluate LBP-related disability for older adults with varying degrees of LBP. Neither questionnaire appears to have superior psychometric properties; therefore, both the Oswestry and Quebec can be recommended for use among geriatric patients with LBP.
-
The prevalence of chronic nonmalignant pain (CNMP), the lack of confidence and reward among trainees and providers caring for patients with CNMP, and the lack of a comprehensive curriculum in pain management prompted the creation of the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Chronic Nonmalignant Pain Management curriculum, an innovative e-learning resource. This article describes the development of the curriculum and presents initial evaluation data. ⋯ The VCU Chronic Nonmalignant Pain Management curriculum is an e-learning resource that has the potential to fill a significant training void. Design and content changes have been made as a result of initial evaluation data. Data from ongoing evaluation will allow curricular refinement.
-
Review
Trigger point injections for chronic non-malignant musculoskeletal pain: a systematic review.
This systematic review assessed the available published evidence on the efficacy and safety of using trigger point injection (TPI) to treat patients with chronic non-malignant musculoskeletal pain that had persisted for at least 3 months. ⋯ The efficacy of TPI is no more certain than it was a decade ago as, overall, there is no clear evidence of either benefit or ineffectiveness. The only advantage of injecting anesthetic into trigger points may be to reduce the pain of the needling process, which may not be an insignificant benefit.
-
Uncertainty often surrounds judgments of pain, especially when pain is chronic. In order to simplify their decisions, providers adduce information from a variety of sources. Unfortunately, an extensive literature suggests that the information that is brought to bear actually can bias pain judgments, resulting in judgments that consistently differ from patient reports, with a potential negative impact on treatment. ⋯ In order to minimize the uncertainty that can characterize symptoms such as chronic pain, practitioners bring information to bear on pain assessment that can lead to misjudgments. While intuitively appealing, much of the information that is considered often has little association with pain severity and/or adjustment. A more rational decision-making process can reduce the judgment errors common to pain assessment and treatment.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
The effect of preemptive analgesia in postoperative pain relief--a prospective double-blind randomized study.
To analyze the effect of infiltration of local anesthetics on postoperative pain relief. ⋯ Local anesthetic infiltration before and/or after abdominal hysterectomy does not reduce the intensity of postoperative pain and analgesic requirements.