Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
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There have been recent increases in the use of methadone and buprenorphine in the United States. Methadone is increasingly being used for pain management, and buprenorphine use has expanded to include treatment for opioid addiction, leading to exposures of these drugs in new populations. There is a debate about the relative safety of these two drugs in routine outpatient medical use. ⋯ Buprenorphine appears to have a better safety profile than methadone during routine outpatient medical use. However, both medications have roles in the treatment of pain and opioid addiction, and further research into their respective benefits and risks should be conducted.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Plasma adrenaline increases in anesthetized patients given electro-acupuncture before surgery.
In anesthetized patients, electro-acupuncture (EA) has been found to reduce sevoflurane-induced suppression of cranial and spinal motor responses to surgery without influencing the level of anesthesia. The underlying mechanisms are unclear. In the present study, blood samples were analyzed to evaluate if the increased clinical motor responses to surgery in patients subjected to EA under sevoflurane anesthesia are also reflected in higher plasma levels of catecholamines, adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH), or cortisol. ⋯ The clinical facilitation of both cranial and spinal motor responses to surgery in patients given acupuncture under sevoflurane anesthesia is associated with increased plasma levels of adrenaline, possibly reflecting sympathetic activation.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
painACTION-back pain: a self-management website for people with chronic back pain.
To determine whether an interactive self-management Website for people with chronic back pain would significantly improve emotional management, coping, self-efficacy to manage pain, pain levels, and physical functioning compared with standard text-based materials. ⋯ An online self-management program for people with chronic back pain can lead to improvements in stress, coping, and social support, and produce clinically significant differences in pain, depression, anxiety, and global rates of improvement.