Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
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Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Comparing clinical outcomes following percutaneous vertebroplasty with conservative therapy for acute osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures.
To compare the efficacy of percutaneous vertebroplasty (PV) with conservative therapy for patients with acute vertebral compression fractures. ⋯ Pain relief, physical functioning improvement, and medication requirement after vertebroplasty are immediately and significantly better when compared with conservative therapy.
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Clinical Trial
Associations between heat pain perception and opioid dose among patients with chronic pain undergoing opioid tapering.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations between morphine equivalent dose and heat pain (HP) perception in patients with chronic pain undergoing opioid tapering in the context of a multidisciplinary rehabilitation program. ⋯ The use of a validated QST method of levels and standardized values of HP 5-0.5 may expand the methodological approaches available for investigating the clinical effects of opioids on HP perception.
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This study determined the risk of serious hepatotoxicity resulting in hospitalizations among patients prescribed opioid/acetaminophen combinations. ⋯ There is no population data-based evidence supporting elevated risk of hepatotoxicity-related hospitalization associated with opioid/acetaminophen combinations.
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To determine if thoracic facet joints may be a significant secondary pain generator in patients with compression fractures. Traditionally, pain from vertebral compression fractures has been attributed to vertebral body itself. Compression fractures have been shown to increase thoracic kyphosis and thereby increase the thoracic flexion moment; these changes eventually increase the shear stress on the posterior elements. ⋯ Facet joints may be abnormally stressed due to the increasing thoracic flexion moment in anterior compression fractures, which may serve as a secondary pain generator; intra-articular facet blocks may be an alternative to vertebroplasty.