Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
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There is a lack of objective methods for determining the achievement of sympathetic block. This study validates the skin conductance monitor (SCM) as an end point indicator of successful sympathetic blockade as compared with traditional monitors. ⋯ This preliminary study suggests that SCM is a more reliable and rapid response indicator of a successful sympathetic blockade when compared with traditional monitors.
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Addressing disparities in low back pain care (LBP) is an important yet largely unaddressed issue. One avenue to addressing disparities, recommended by clinical guidelines, is to ensure that LBP information is culturally appropriate. Our objectives were, first, to develop LBP information that was culturally appropriate for Aboriginal Australians living in a rural area and, second, to compare this to traditional information. ⋯ The MBOT information was more preferred and addressed important barriers to care, providing support for use in practice. Similar processes are needed to develop pain information for other cultural groups, particularly those underserved by existing approaches to care.
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Authors, readers, and editors share a common focus. Authors want to publish their work. Readers want to see high-quality, new information. ⋯ Instead, it describes and explains, step by step, the critical components of an article, what authors should include, and what readers should look for, so that the Journal can ensure that consistent, high-quality information is shared between its authors and readers. The present article focuses on articles concerning treatment of pain, largely because this type of article is more commonly submitted than articles on reliability or validity of diagnostic procedures. Although the present article principally focuses on papers for the Spine Section of the Journal, the same principles, appropriately adapted, serve for other sections.
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To examine how drug counselors with no prior training in pain management respond to their patients' reports of chronic pain. ⋯ Perceived barriers to treating patients with chronic noncancer pain are common among drug counselors. Addressing these barriers in drug counselor training and in methadone maintenance treatment programs may benefit both methadone-maintained patients with chronic pain and their providers.