Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
-
Catastrophizing has been broadly conceived as an exaggerated negative "mental set" brought to bear during actual or anticipated pain experience and has risen to the status of one of the most important psychological predictors of pain. The present study aimed at investigating the relationship between catastrophizing and postoperative pain outcomes (pain intensity and analgesia use) in patients undergoing elective instrumented lumbar fusion surgery. ⋯ The present study findings suggest that it is possible to preoperatively identify patients at risk for experiencing more severe pain in the postoperative recovery period. In such cases, consideration might be given to utilizing a variety of resources to ameliorate or prevent pain.
-
Case Reports
Paraplegia following image-guided transforaminal lumbar spine epidural steroid injection: two case reports.
To present two case reports of a rare but devastating injury after image-guided, lumbar transforaminal injection of steroids, and to explore features in common with previously reported cases. ⋯ These cases consolidate a pattern emerging in the literature. Distal cord and conus injury can occur following transforaminal injections at lumbar levels, whether injection is on the left or right. This conforms with the probability of radicular-medullary arteries forming an arteria radicularis magna at lumbar levels. All cases used particulate corticosteroids, which promotes embolization in a radicular artery as the likely mechanism of injury. The risk of this complication can be reduced, and potentially eliminated, by the utilization of particulate free steroids, testing for intra-arterial injection with digital subtraction angiography, and a preliminary injection of local anesthetic.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
A mind-body program for older adults with chronic low back pain: results of a pilot study.
Determine the impact of an 8-week mindfulness meditation program on disability, psychological function, and pain severity in community-dwelling older adults with chronic low back pain, and to test the education control program for feasibility. ⋯ Both the intervention group and the education control group improved on outcome measures suggesting both programs had a beneficial effect. Participants continued to meditate on 4-month follow-up. The control program was feasible but not inert. Piloting the control program in mind-body research can inform the design of larger clinical trials.
-
Cannabis is the most widely consumed illicit drug in the United States. Its use, particularly in early initiates, is associated with subsequent development of other drug and alcohol use disorders. ⋯ Cannabis use is prevalent in patients prescribed chronic opioid therapy and is associated with opioid misuse. Further research is necessary to clarify the strength and the nature of the association between cannabis use and opioid misuse, and to address additional questions about the consequences of cannabis use in the context of chronic opioid therapy.
-
Slow deep breathing has been proposed as an effective method to decrease pain. However, experimental studies conducted to validate this claim have not been carried out. ⋯ Slow deep breathing and HR biofeedback had analgesic effects and increased vagal cardiac activity. Distraction also produced analgesia; however, these effects were not accompanied by concomitant changes in cardiac activity. This suggests that the neurobiology underlying respiratory-induced analgesia and distraction are different. Clinical implications are discussed, as are the possible cardiorespiratory processes responsible for mediating breathing-induced analgesia.