Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
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Review Case Reports Multicenter Study
Treatment of medically refractory cancer pain with a combination of intrathecal neuromodulation and neurosurgical ablation: case series and literature review.
Up to 90% of patients with advanced cancer experience intractable pain. For these patients, oral analgesics are the mainstay of therapy, often augmented with intrathecal drug delivery. Neurosurgical ablative procedures have become less commonly used, though their efficacy has been well-established. Unfortunately, little is known about the safety of ablation in the context of previous neuromodulation. Therefore, the aim of this study is to present the results from a case series in which patients were treated successfully with a combination of intrathecal neuromodulation and neurosurgical ablation. ⋯ In cancer patients with medically intractable pain, intrathecal neuromodulation and neurosurgical ablation together may allow for more effective control of cancer pain.
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The objective of this evidence-based structured review was to determine if there is consistent evidence that pain interferes with achieving antidepressant treatment response/remission of depression in patients with depression and pain. ⋯ Consistent evidence was found that antidepressant treatment of depression in patients with depression and pain can be negatively impacted by pain for achieving depression response/remission. However, the overall number of studies supporting each hypothesis was small. In addition, several potential confounders of the results of this study were identified.
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The objective of this study is to identify the prevalence of opioid prescription use in an Australian workers' compensation population and assess predictors of long-term use. ⋯ Prescription opioid use for workplace injury in Australia is common but not as common as reports from U.S. workers' compensation schemes. The type of opioid and number of repeat prescriptions are factors that should be carefully considered by practitioners prescribing opioids to injured workers: progression to long-term use is common and not fully explained by injury severity.
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Observational Study
The design and methods of genetic studies on acute and chronic postoperative pain in patients after total knee replacement.
Total knee replacement (TKR) is the treatment option of choice for the millions of individuals whose osteoarthritis pain can no longer be managed through non-invasive methods. Over 500,000 TKRs are performed annually in the United States. Although most patients report improvement in pain and functioning following TKR, up to 30% report persistent pain that interferes with daily function. However, the reasons for poor outcomes are not clear. To best determine which patients are at risk for pain post TKR, a detailed and comprehensive approach is needed. In this article, we present the methodology of a study designed to identify a set of genetic, proteomic, clinical, demographic, psychosocial, and psychophysical risk factors for severe acute and chronic pain post TKR. ⋯ This study, for the first time, captures the information on both genetic and "environmental" risk factors for acute and chronic pain post-TKR and has the potential to lead to the next step-multicenter large-scale studies on predictors and biomarkers of poor TKR outcomes as well as on tailored interventions and personalized medicine approaches for those at risk.
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We hypothesized that among community-dwelling older adults without dementia with advanced chronic knee osteoarthritis (OA) pain: 1) higher levels of self-reported pain would be associated with decreased executive cognitive function and decreased physical function; and 2) decreased cognitive function would be associated with decreased physical function. ⋯ Worse pain scores and executive function scores were associated with worse physical function in older adults with painful knee OA. This suggests that slower gait speed in patients could be an indication to clinicians to monitor their patient's cognitive function. Executive function in particular affected the relationship between gait speed and pain, suggesting a possible mediating relationship.