Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
-
Intrathecal sufentanil is a minimally utilized opioid for patients with intractable pain refractory to traditional intrathecal medications. We present an 86-year-old female with a history of multiple spine surgeries who eventually progressed to having chronic, intractable, and diffuse low back pain. After failing medical management, she underwent a successful intrathecal trial of opioid therapy and was subsequently treated with an implantable drug delivery system (IDDS) or intrathecal pump. ⋯ Due to increasing opioid requirements and gradually escalating pain, a computed tomography myelogram was performed to explore neuraxial etiologies of her symptoms. This investigation revealed the presence of a catheter tip-associated inflammatory mass (granuloma). All patients receiving intrathecal medications, including sufentanil, must be considered for the possibility of catheter-associated granuloma, particularly with symptoms of altered neurological function and/or increasing medication requirements associated with worsening pain.
-
With the growth in opioid therapy for the treatment of chronic pain, health care providers have focused their attention on avoiding over-use of opioid medications, specifically to avoid addiction, dependency, and other misuse. Qualitative and quantitative reviews of medication adherence, in contrast, focus primarily on why patients under-use or do not take their medications as prescribed and find nonadherence rates of approximately 25%. ⋯ Improved communication between patients and providers and shared decision-making regarding opioid prescriptions may improve pain management and minimize the problems associated with over-prescription of opioids (i.e., diversion).
-
Case Reports
Analgesic effect of subanesthetic intravenous ketamine in refractory neuropathic pain: a case report.
A 59-year-old male patient with progressive neuropathic pain secondary to chronic idiopathic axonal polyneuropathy responded poorly to conventional therapies including gabapentin, tricyclic antidepressants, serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors and opioids. Following continuous intravenous administration of low dose ketamine, an N-methyl-D-aspartic acid receptor antagonist, 20 mg/h for 5 days, almost complete pain relief was obtained without significant side effects. ⋯ This supports the growing body of evidence that ketamine may be useful in the management of refractory chronic neuropathic pain. We discuss chronic idiopathic axonal polyneuropathy, neuropathic pain mechanisms, and the use of ketamine in this report.
-
In response to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education's (ACGME) new pain medicine fellowship requirement, which emphasizes multidisciplinary training strategies aimed at providing improved clinical care for pain patients, we developed a multidisciplinary team training education model for trainees in our institution's Fellowship Program in Pain Medicine. Although the biopsychosocial model guides the delivery of care by multidisciplinary pain teams, there is a gap on how to improve team attitudes and functioning within an already extensive pain medicine curriculum. The current study aimed to fill that gap by developing and incorporating an educational model that focuses on interpersonal relationships among team members and strategies for improving team performance over time. ⋯ Mean assessment scores increased from the beginning of the fellowship to the end of the fellowship on interdisciplinary pain team knowledge, current team skills, and attitude toward health care teams. The current study demonstrated effective ways for assessing team attitudes and functioning and including this educational component into a 1-year pain medicine curriculum. Based on our results, we will continue to teach and model effective teamwork in an effort to enhance our trainees' attitudes toward working on an interdisciplinary pain team.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
Gabapentin does not reduce preoperative anxiety when given prior to total hip arthroplasty.
Gabapentin is an anti-epileptic drug which is also used for the treatment of postoperative pain and a variety of psychiatric diseases including chronic anxiety disorders. We tested the hypothesis that compared with a placebo control, gabapentin would reduce preoperative anxiety in patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty. ⋯ Administration of gabapentin 600 mg prior to surgery does not reduce preoperative anxiety.