Pain physician
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The pathophysiology of pain involves complex nervous system interactions after initial noxious stimuli. When stimuli persist, biochemical and structural changes occur in the nociceptive pathways of the central and peripheral nervous systems, leading to pain sensitization. Peripheral and central sensitization are key in the transition from acute to chronic pain. This development of chronic pain is particularly common following various surgical procedures, with many postsurgical patients experiencing persistent pain for significant periods. Chronic pain is a common and severe complication of surgery, and preventing its development is tantamount in improving patient outcomes. ⋯ Acute pain, chronic postsurgical pain, pain sensitization, chronic pain prevention, regional anesthesia, pain adjuncts, neuraxial anesthesia, chronic pain risk factors.
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Beta-blocker Use is Associated with a Reduction in Opioid Use 30 Days After Total Knee Arthroplasty.
Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) can lead to chronic pain and prolonged postoperative opioid use. There are few evidence-based interventions to prevent these outcomes. Recently, beta-blockers have emerged as possible novel analgesics. ⋯ Analgesics, opioid, arthroplasty, replacement, knee, adrenergic beta-antagonists, pain management.
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Percutaneous radiofrequency thermocoagulation (PRFT) has been widely used to treat trigeminal neuralgia. By querying MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library, no study has reported the long-term outcome of PRFT for tumor-related trigeminal neuralgia (TRTN). ⋯ Pain, secondary trigeminal neuralgia, radiofrequency thermocoagulation, trigeminal neuralgia.
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Observational Study
Depression Trends in Patients with Chronic Pain: An Analysis of the Nationwide Inpatient Sample.
Chronic pain remains a major public health issue that affects the lives of many worldwide, including patients with chronic pain. Comorbidities like depression have been associated with decreased quality of sleep, decreased enjoyment of life activities, increased anxiety, and decreased efficacy in treatments among patients with chronic pain. Despite these associations, the trends and demographic characteristics of patients with chronic pain with depression is yet to be investigated. ⋯ Chronic pain, depression, National Inpatient Sample.
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Neck pain is one of the major conditions attributing to overall disability in the United States. There have been multiple publications assessing clinical and cost effectiveness of multiple modalities of interventions in managing chronic neck pain. Even then, the literature has been considered sparse in relation to cervical interlaminar epidural injections in managing chronic neck pain. In contrast, cost utility studies of lumbar interlaminar injections, caudal epidural injections, cervical and lumbar facet joint nerve blocks, percutaneous adhesiolysis demonstrated costs of less than $3,500 for quality-adjusted life year (QALY). ⋯ Cervical interlaminar epidural injections, chronic neck pain, cervical disc herniation, cervical discogenic pain, post surgery syndrome, cost utility analysis, cost effectiveness analysis, quality-adjusted life years.