Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
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We observed that parenteral morphine is routinely prescribed in doses that are quite low in relation to doses of alternative parenteral opioids and in comparison with published effective doses and guidelines. The present study was undertaken to determine: 1) whether different parenteral opioids are dosed equivalently; 2) which patient factors affect equianalgesic dose; and 3) which patient factors affect opioid choice. ⋯ At our institution, parenteral morphine boluses are routinely given at relatively low doses compared with: 1) other opioids; 2) patient-controlled analgesic dosing; 3) usual doses required for analgesia from previous studies; and 4) a historical control in the same hospital. The reasons for this pattern are largely unexplained by patient variables. Inadequate bolus dosing of morphine may be a barrier to appropriate patient analgesia.
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Pain is one of the most frequently reported symptoms by veterans returning from recent overseas military actions. The purpose of the current study was to obtain a preliminary estimate of the prevalence and severity of pain among veterans of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF; N=970). The demographic, etiologic, and diagnostic characteristics of 100 veterans with moderate to severe chronic pain conditions were examined in order to provide a description of this new group of pain patients. ⋯ The results of this preliminary study suggest that a substantial percentage of OEF/OIF veterans will experience clinically significant pain following their military service.
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To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Profile of Chronic Pain: Screen (PCP:S) in primary care. The PCP:S is a brief assessment device designed to gauge pain severity, interference, and emotional burden. ⋯ Although the PCP:S was initially developed and validated using a national community sample of adults with chronic pain who provided data via telephone interviews, the present findings support its use as a brief and psychometrically sound paper-and-pencil measure for the assessment of three key components of chronic pain in primary care.
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Review Meta Analysis
Meta-analysis of the efficacy and safety of intradiscal electrothermal therapy (IDET).
The objective of this study was to determine the representative outcomes of the intradiscal electrothermal therapy (IDET) procedure in terms of pain relief, reduction of disability, and risk of complications. ⋯ Although variation exists in the reported outcomes among the various studies of the IDET procedure, the pooled results of the published studies provide compelling evidence of the relative efficacy and safety of the IDET procedure.