Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
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To improve the care of patients with painful diabetic polyneuropathy (PDP) by a specialized outpatient clinic for individuals referred by general practitioners and to determine the effects on pain, quality of life, and patient satisfaction. ⋯ A specialized outpatient clinic for patients with PDP is an effective health care service. Using diagnostic instruments and a defined treatment algorithm, significant pain reduction was achieved in the majority of patients in a relative short period of time.
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The purpose of this project was to determine whether machine-learning classifiers could predict which patients would require a preoperative acute pain service (APS) consultation. ⋯ Using historical data, machine-learning classifiers can predict which surgical cases should prompt a preoperative request for an APS consultation. Dimensional reduction improved computational efficiency and preserved predictive performance.
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The purpose of this survey was to determine the current teaching practices of regional anesthesia and the prevalence of ultrasound use in guiding peripheral nerve blocks in the academic institutions across the United States. ⋯ Ultrasound-guided PNBs are universally taught across residency programs in the United States. Most teaching physicians believe that ultrasound increases PNB's success and improves safety of regional anesthesia. Barriers to ultrasound use are lack of faculty training and unavailability of ultrasound equipment.
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The comorbidity of chronic pain and sleep disturbances has received increasing research attention in Western clinical pediatric populations; yet, little is known about its sociodemographic and psychological correlates in non-Western community pediatric populations. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of comorbid chronic pain and sleep disturbances and its associated factors in a community sample of Chinese adolescents. ⋯ Our data offered preliminary evidence that comorbid chronic pain and sleep disturbances occurred among about one-fifth in the present sample of Chinese community adolescents. Future studies should examine whether the two symptoms interact with each other in affecting the physical, mental, and cognitive development of adolescents.
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Case Reports Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Efficacy and safety of intravenous immunoglobulin as adjuvant treatment for refractory neuropathic pain. Results of an open-label, multicenter study.
Neuropathic pain is frequently associated with many peripheral nervous system diseases and its successful treatment is an area of significant and critical unmet need. ⋯ This unblinded pilot study showed a beneficial effect of IVIG on neuropathic pain intensity and quality of life in patients resistant to conventional treatments.