The journal of pain : official journal of the American Pain Society
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Review Meta Analysis
Towards Identifying Moderators of Associations Between Pre-Surgery Emotional Distress and Post-Operative Pain Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis of Longitudinal Studies.
Presurgery emotional distress has had variable associations with outcomes of surgery in past narrative reviews. This meta-analysis was designed to evaluate the overall strengths of relations between presurgical emotional distress and key postsurgical pain outcomes (ie, pain intensity, analgesic use, functional impairment) and to identify moderators that might explain effect size heterogeneity between studies. PubMed, Web of Science, PsychINFO, Google Scholar, and Science Direct databases were searched to identify studies subjected to meta-analysis. Forty-seven studies of 6,207 patients met all 10 inclusion criteria. High presurgery emotional distress levels were associated with significantly more postsurgical pain, analgesic use, and impairment after surgery, with small to medium average effect sizes. Moderator analyses for relations between distress and pain intensity indicated effect sizes were larger in studies that assessed catastrophizing, anxiety, and/or depression than other types of emotional distress as well as those with lower rather than higher quality scores. Associations between presurgery distress and postoperative impairment were moderated by type of surgery. Heterogeneity in these relations was reduced or no longer significant after statistically controlling for moderators. Moderator analyses also supported the role of presurgery emotional distress as a risk factor for, rather than simply a correlate of, elevations in postoperative pain and disability. ⋯ This meta-analysis indicates presurgery emotional distress has significant associations with postoperative outcomes but specific methodological factors and sample characteristics contribute to effect size variability in the literature. Considering emotional distress within presurgical assessment protocols may aid in identifying vulnerable patients who can benefit from interventions targeting distress reductions.
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Review
Systematic review of childhood and adolescent risk and prognostic factors for recurrent headaches.
Little is known about childhood and adolescent risk and prognostic factors for recurrent headaches. This systematic review 1) examined longitudinal evidence about factors associated with onset and course of recurrent headaches in childhood or adolescence, using meta-analysis where possible, and 2) evaluated the quality of this evidence using a modified Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation framework. Through searching electronic databases, reference lists of included studies, and an electronic mail list we identified and included 23 articles reporting 19 cohorts. From the included studies we explored 27 risk factors for recurrent headaches, 27 prognostic factors for persistence of recurrent headaches, and 6 prognostic factors for presence of headache-related disability. The quality of evidence for most associations is low or very low. There is moderate-quality evidence that women are at risk of developing recurrent headaches and of headaches persisting. There is high-quality evidence suggesting that children with negative emotional states manifested through anxiety, depression, or mental distress are not at risk of developing headache, but moderate-quality evidence suggests that the presence of comorbid negative emotional states in children with headaches is associated with increased risk of headache persistence. Because of the small number of studies, further investigation is needed to increase confidence in existing evidence and to explore new risk and prognostic factors. ⋯ This is a review of the evidence about childhood and adolescent risk and prognostic factors for the onset of recurrent headaches and their course. Understanding these factors can help identify childrens' risk and may suggest ways to reduce this risk.
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Previous studies have not examined the assessment of chronic low back pain (CLBP) and pain-related anxiety from a fear avoidance model through the use of motion-capture software and virtual human technologies. The aim of this study was to develop and assess the psychometric properties of an interactive, technologically based hierarchy that can be used to assess patients with pain and pain-related anxiety. We enrolled 30 licensed physical therapists and 30 participants with CLBP. Participants rated 21 video clips of a 3-D animated character (avatar) engaging in activities that are typically feared by patients with CLBP. The results of the study indicate that physical therapists found the virtual hierarchy clips acceptable and depicted realistic patient experiences. Most participants with CLBP reported at least 1 video clip as being sufficiently anxiety-provoking for use clinically. Therefore, this study suggests a hierarchy of fears can be created out of 21 virtual patient video clips paving the way for future clinical use in patients with CLBP. ⋯ This report describes the development of a computer-based virtual patient system for the assessment of back pain-related fear and anxiety. Results show that people with back pain as well as physical therapists found the avatar to be realistic, and the depictions of behavior anxiety- and fear-provoking.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for phantom limb pain in landmine victims: A double-blinded, randomized, sham-controlled trial.
We evaluated the effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in the treatment of phantom limb pain (PLP) in land mine victims. Fifty-four patients with PLP were enrolled in a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, parallel group single-center trial. The intervention consisted of real or sham rTMS of M1 contralateral to the amputated leg. rTMS was given in series of 20 trains of 6-second duration (54-second intertrain, intensity 90% of motor threshold) at a stimulation rate of 10 Hz (1,200 pulses), 20 minutes per day, during 10 days. For the control group, a sham coil was used. The administration of active rTMS induced a significantly greater reduction in pain intensity (visual analogue scale scores) 15 days after treatment compared with sham stimulation (-53.38 ± 53.12% vs -22.93 ± 57.16%; mean between-group difference = 30.44%, 95% confidence interval, .30-60.58; P = .03). This effect was not significant 30 days after treatment. In addition, 19 subjects (70.3%) attained a clinically significant pain reduction (>30%) in the active group compared with 11 in the sham group (40.7%) 15 days after treatment (P = .03). The administration of 10 Hz rTMS on the contralateral primary motor cortex for 2 weeks in traumatic amputees with PLP induced significant clinical improvement in pain. ⋯ High-frequency rTMS on the contralateral primary motor cortex of traumatic amputees induced a clinically significant pain reduction up to 15 days after treatment without any major secondary effect. These results indicate that rTMS is a safe and effective therapy in patients with PLP caused by land mine explosions.
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The transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily M 8 (TRPM8) agonist L-menthol has been used traditionally for its topical counterirritant properties. Although the use of topical L-menthol for pain is casuistically established, evidence regarding its efficacy is negligible. This study aimed to characterize the effect of L-menthol as a counterirritant on cutaneous pain and hyperalgesia provoked by topical application of the transient receptor potential cation channel, subfamily A, member 1 (TRPA1) agonist trans-cinnamaldehyde (CA). In a randomized, double-blinded study CA was applied to a 3 × 3-cm area of the volar forearm evoking neurogenic inflammation, pain, mechanical, and thermal hyperalgesia in 14 healthy volunteers. In different sessions, 10% CA alone or 40% L-menthol applied simultaneously with 10% CA were administered for 20 minutes, throughout which the subjects rated the pain intensity on a visual analogue scale of 0 to 10. Extensive quantitative sensory testing was conducted and superficial blood flow (neurogenic inflammation) was recorded. Administration of CA evoked spontaneous pain, neurogenic inflammation, thermal hyperalgesia, and primary and secondary mechanical hyperalgesia. Coadministration of topical L-menthol reduced spontaneous pain intensity (P < .01), neurogenic inflammation (P < .01), primary mechanical hyperalgesia (P < .05), secondary mechanical hyperalgesia (P < .05), and heat hyperalgesia (P < .05), but not cold hyperalgesia. L-menthol exhibited inhibitory effects on simultaneously established pain, hypersensitivity, and neurogenic inflammation in a human TRPA1-induced pain model. Potent TRPM8 agonists could be useful as topical antihyperalgesics. The study and the trial protocol is registered and approved by the local research ethics committee under the jurisdiction of the Danish Medicines Agency number N-20130005. The protocol also is registered at Clinicaltrials.gov under NCT02653703. ⋯ Drugs interacting with transient receptor potential channels are of great therapeutic potential. In the present study we established cutaneous pain and hyperalgesia using the TRPA1 agonist CA. Subsequently, we showed that the frequently used topical counterirritant and TRPM8 agonist, L-menthol, decreased evoked pain, hyperalgesia, and inflammation, indicating direct and indirect antinociceptive mechanisms.