Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Efficacy and Safety of Acupuncture for Chronic Discogenic Sciatica, a Randomized Controlled Sham Acupuncture Trial.
To evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for discogenic sciatica. ⋯ Twelve sessions of acupuncture showed short-term clinical benefits in relieving the symptoms of leg pain for patients with chronic discogenic sciatica compared with sham acupuncture. Acupuncture is safe in treating chronic discogenic sciatica. Further studies with larger sample sizes, a longer treatment period, and long-term follow-up should be conducted to verify these results.
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This pilot trial compared the feasibility, tolerability, acceptability, and effects of group-delivered mindfulness meditation (MM), cognitive therapy (CT), and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) for chronic low back pain (CLBP). ⋯ This is the first study to examine MBCT for CLBP management. The findings show that MBCT is a feasible, tolerable, acceptable, and potentially efficacious treatment option for CLBP. Further, MBCT, and possibly CT, could have sustained benefits that exceed MM on some important CLBP outcomes. A future definitive randomized controlled trial is needed to evaluate these treatments and their differences.
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Acute exercise can trigger a hypoalgesic response (exercise-induced hypoalgesia [EIH]) in healthy subjects. Despite promising application possibilities of EIH in the clinical context, its reliability has not been sufficiently examined. This study therefore investigated the between-session and within-subject test-retest reliability of EIH at local and remote body parts after aerobic cycling at a heart rate-controlled intensity. ⋯ Our results suggest fair test-retest reliability of EIH after aerobic cycling for local and semilocal body parts, but only in men, demonstrating the need for more standardized methodological approaches to improve EIH as a clinical parameter.
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Recent animal research suggests that mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) facilitates abnormal endogenous modulation of pain, potentially underlying the increased risk for persistent headaches following injury. However, no human studies have directly assessed the functioning of endogenous facilitory and inhibitory systems in the early stages after an mTBI. ⋯ In conclusion, mTBI patients may be at risk for maladaptive changes to the functioning of endogenous pain modulatory systems following head injury that could increase risk for post-traumatic headaches.