Journal of pain & palliative care pharmacotherapy
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J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother · Jan 2002
Case ReportsMyofascial pain response to topical lidocaine patch therapy: case report.
This is a case from a preliminary open trial to assess the efficacy of topically applied lidocaine patches as an alternative to trigger point injections for myofascial pain. We describe one case in this report that had a dramatic response to the lidocaine patch. Her pain relief increased, pain intensity decreased, and functional capacity increased. ⋯ The response to other patients has varied. The true clinical utility cannot be obtained from this one report, but only after the data have been analyzed from this initial trial. If the data are promising, a randomized, double-blind, crossover trial is planned.
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J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother · Jan 2002
Clinical TrialSelf-treatment with oral transmucosal fentanyl citrate to prevent emergency room visits for pain crises: patient self-reports of efficacy and utility.
Ninety (90) patients with chronic pain who were treated with a long-acting opioid were instructed on use of oral transmucosal fentanyl citrate (OTFC) for self-treatment of emergency pain flares. Eighty-six (95.6%) believed OTFC was effective and safe for self-treatment of emergency pain flares, and 71 (78.8%) believed they had prevented one or more emergency room visits for treatment of pain flares. A subgroup of 45 patients who had collectively used OTFC for 375 months, based on their past experience, estimated they had prevented 1.26 emergency room visits per month per patient. OTFC should be further studied for cost-savings and effectiveness in self-treatment of emergency pain flares.
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J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother · Jan 2002
Medications through the Internet: what clinicians and patients need to know.
Patients are now able to obtain mail order prescriptions through the Internet from reputable online pharmacies without leaving their home. While this can be a great convenience, the Internet also provides a new means for easily questionable or even illegal prescription medications, i.e., prescription legend medications may be obtained without a prescription and drug products not legally available in the United States can be obtained in this way. ⋯ Clinicians should know where their patients obtain medications, how to verify the validity of the sources of prescriptions, and how to report fraud. Ways to verify the legitimacy of an online pharmacy are described.
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The ASHP Midyear Clinical meeting continues to be the largest pharmacy meeting in the world. A broad range of topics was presented at hundreds of symposia and posters at the 2001 meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, in December. Pain management, hospice care, evidence based medicine, safe medication practices and improved drug information services were among the many practice areas addressed and recognized at the meeting.