The journal of pain : official journal of the American Pain Society
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Self-Guided Online Cognitive Behavioral Strategies for Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy: A Multicenter, Pilot, Randomized, Wait-List Controlled Trial.
The purpose of this pilot, parallel, randomized controlled trial was to examine the efficacy of a self-guided online cognitive and behaviorally-based pain management intervention (Proactive Self-Management Program for Effects of Cancer Treatment [PROSPECT]) to reduce "worst" pain for individuals with chronic painful chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). Secondary outcomes included "average" pain, nonpainful CIPN symptom severity, impression of change, and pain interference. Sixty patients with chronic painful CIPN were recruited from 5 outpatient academic and community cancer centers. ⋯ Individuals who received the PROSPECT intervention (n = 19) had significantly greater improvements in "worst pain" compared with individuals receiving usual care (n = 19; P = .046, d = .58). There were no significant differences in mean scores between groups for the secondary outcomes (n = 42). A larger, adequately powered study testing the PROSPECT intervention is needed to determine if improvements in pain may be sustained, evaluate the effect of the intervention on the secondary outcomes, and identify mediators of pain intensity-related improvement.
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Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) enable registered prescribers to obtain real-time information on patients' prescription history of controlled medications. We sought to describe the effect of a state-mandated PDMP on opioid prescribing by emergency medicine providers. We retrospectively analyzed electronic medical records of 122,732 adult patients discharged with an opioid prescription from 15 emergency departments in a single health system in Pennsylvania from July 2015 to March, 2017. We used an interrupted time series design to evaluate the percentage of patients discharged each month with an opioid prescription before and after state law-mandated PDMP use on August 25, 2016. From August (pre-PDMP) to September, 2016 (post-PDMP), the opioid prescribing rate decreased from 12.4% (95% confidence interval [CI], 10.8%-14.1%) to 10.2% (95% CI, 8.8%-11.8%). For each month between September 2016 to March 2017, there was a mean decline of .46% (95% CI, -.38% to -.53%) in the percentage of patients discharged with an opioid prescription. There was heterogeneity in opioid prescribing across hospitals as well as according to patient diagnosis. ⋯ This study examined the effect of a state-mandated PDMP on opioid prescribing among emergency medicine providers from 15 different hospitals in a single health system. Findings support current PDMP mandates in reducing opioid prescriptions, which could curb the prescription opioid epidemic and may ultimately reduce abuse, misuse, and overdose death.
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Review Meta Analysis
Altered Primary Motor Cortex Structure, Organisation and Function in Chronic Pain: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Chronic pain can be associated with movement abnormalities. The primary motor cortex (M1) has an essential role in the formulation and execution of movement. A number of changes in M1 function have been reported in studies of people with chronic pain. ⋯ There is conflicting evidence of altered M1 structure, organization, and function for neuropathic and non-neuropathic pain conditions. Meta-analyses provided evidence of increased M1 long-interval intracortical inhibition in chronic pain populations. For most measures, the evidence of M1 changes in chronic pain populations is inconclusive.
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The purpose of this longitudinal blood sampling study was to examine relationships between sex hormones and fibromyalgia pain. Eight women meeting case definition criteria for fibromyalgia provided venous blood samples and reported their fibromyalgia pain severity over 25 consecutive days. All women exhibited normal menstrual cycles and were not taking oral contraceptives. ⋯ There was no relationship between estradiol and pain (P = .551) or cortisol and pain (P = .633). These results suggest that progesterone and testosterone play a protective role in fibromyalgia pain severity. Sex and other hormones may serve to increase as well as decrease fibromyalgia pain severity.
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Chronic pain in complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) has been linked to tactile misperceptions and deficits in somatotopic representation of the affected limb. In this study, we identify altered cognitive processing of tactile stimuli in CRPS patients that we propose marks heterogeneity in tactile decision-making mechanisms. In a case-control design, we compared middle- and late-latency somatosensory evoked potentials in response to pseudorandomized mechanical stimulation of the digits of both hands (including CRPS-affected and nonaffected sides) between 13 CRPS patients and 13 matched healthy controls. ⋯ At late latencies, patients showed an augmented P300-like response under task demands that localized to the supplementary motor area. Source activity in the supplementary motor area correlated with slowed response times, although its scalp representation intriguingly correlated with better functioning of the affected limb, suggesting a compensatory mechanism. Future research should investigate the clinical utility of these putative markers of tactile decision-making mechanisms in CRPS.