Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
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Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is associated with severe pain. The underlying neurobiology of this is complex. The primary aim of this study was to characterize pain in MPM. ⋯ Pain in mesothelioma varies among patients and may have neuropathic components. An adequate pain assessment is necessary to guide the clinician in the appropriate choice of analgesics.
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Pain has been shown to be associated with poor sleep quality. The aim of this study was to better understand the role that pain intensity and pain extent (number of painful areas) may play in the sleep quality of young people with acute and chronic pain. ⋯ Sleep quality in young people could be improved by teaching them strategies to better manage pain intensity and pain extent. Clinical trials to evaluate the efficacy of (and best timing for) pain interventions to improve sleep quality are warranted.
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Chronic inflammatory and peripheral neuropathic pain (PNP) is a major health problem for which effective drug treatment is lacking. The pathophysiology of these debilitating conditions is incompletely understood, but nerve growth factor (NGF) is believed to play a major role. NGF-antagonism has previously been shown to prevent pain hypersensitivity in rodent models of acute inflammatory pain and PNP, but most of those animal studies did not address the more clinically relevant issue of whether NGF-antagonism provides relief of established chronic pain behavior. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate whether blocking NGF actions with a humanized anti-NGF monoclonal antibody (PG110) would reverse/attenuate established pain hypersensitivity in rat models of chronic/persistent inflammatory pain and PNP. ⋯ These findings suggest that therapies that target NGF or its receptors may be effective for treatment of persistent/chronic inflammatory pain, but probably not PNP.
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Many physicians struggle to communicate with patients with chronic, non-malignant pain (CNMP). Through the use of a Web module, the authors aimed to improve faculty participants' communication skills knowledge and confidence, use of skills in clinical practice, and actual communication skills. ⋯ Experienced clinician-educators improved their communication knowledge, attitudes, and skills in managing patients with CNMP after implementation of this curriculum. The improvements in attitudes were sustained at six months. A Web-based curriculum such as COPE-REMS® may be useful for other programs seeking improvement in faculty communication with patients who have CNMP.