Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
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To explore whether plasma inflammatory mediators on postoperative day 3 (POD3) are associated with pain scores in older adults after hip fracture surgery. ⋯ These findings suggest that TNF-α and its receptors may influence pain following hip fracture. Further study of the TNF-α pathway may inform future clinical applications that monitor and treat pain in the vulnerable elderly who are unable to accurately report pain.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Evaluation of the Impact of Physical Exercise in Reducing Pain in Women Undergoing Mammography: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
To evaluate the efficacy of exercise prior to mammography in reducing perceived postexamination pain. ⋯ Pre-examination upper limb exercises were most effective in reducing the perception and sensation of pain. However, women who performed lower limb exercises also had a decreased perception of pain compared with the control group.
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Rib fractures are present in more than 150,000 patients admitted to US trauma centers each year. Those who fracture two or more ribs are typically treated with oral analgesic drugs and are discharged with few complications. The cost of this care generally reflects its brevity. When a patient fractures three or more ribs, there is an elevated risk of complication. In response, treatments are often broadened and their durations prolonged; this affects cost. While health, function, and survival have been widely explored, patient billing has not. Thus, we evaluated the financial implications of one mode of treatment for patients with rib fractures: thoracic epidural analgesia (TEA). ⋯ Patients who received TEA were more severely injured and required longer treatments; controlling for these variables, the use of TEA associated with reductions in the cost of receiving care. From an administrative and insurance perspective, more frequent reliance on TEA may be indicated.
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Despite ample research documenting deficits in executive functioning for adults with chronic pain, the literature on pediatric patients with chronic pain is limited and provides mixed results. The current study sought to further investigate the nature of executive dysfunction in this population and also examine the relationships between pain intensity, duration, and catastrophizing with sustained attention, working memory, and self- and parent-report of executive functioning. ⋯ This study adds support to previous findings suggesting subclinical struggles with executive functioning for adolescents with chronic pain. One-half of the sample indicated difficulties in either sustained attention and/or working memory. Future studies that would more thoroughly examine more complex executive functioning skills in this population would be helpful to further guide multidisciplinary treatment of these patients, particularly regarding whether or not school accommodations are warranted.