Expert review of neurotherapeutics
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Complex regional pain syndrome is a painful disorder of unclear etiology, typically involving the distal part of one limb, represented by spontaneous and evoked pain as well as autonomic, motor and trophic abnormalities. It can be incapacitating and severely affect function and quality of life. ⋯ Nonetheless, the management of this syndrome is difficult because currently available drugs and technologies do not provide adequate pain relief for a considerable percentage of sufferers. The present review focuses primarily on the pharmacotherapy of complex regional pain syndrome and describes briefly the epidemiology, pathogenesis and clinical manifestations of the syndrome.
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The use of botulinum toxin type A continues to be investigated by the US FDA for potential use in the treatment of headache. As part of this process there has been extensive research conducted by individual study sites as well as multicenter trials. To date, the majority of the focus has been on migraine headache as well as on tension-type headache. ⋯ At the same time, additional work has been performed to understand the mechanism by which botulinum toxin type A may work to alleviate migraine. This work may contribute substantially to improving outcomes with botulinum toxin type A. Characterization of the mechanism of action in pain may be crucial to outcomes because many issues are related to central sensitization.
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Postnatal depression is a common condition that may have a significant negative impact on both infant and mother, often remaining undiagnosed and untreated. Development of effective means of detection, prevention and treatment of postnatal depression is a major health challenge. ⋯ No preventive or therapeutic studies, however, have provided evidence for long-term success. There is a need for future research into the prevention and treatment of postnatal depression including the assessment of long-term effects on the child's development as well as feasibility in relation to cost-effectiveness.
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Acute pain is a symptom that originates from actual ongoing or impending tissue damage. Pain is an individual subjective experience and varies markedly among individuals. For this reason, patient involvement is essential, with the most reliable indicator of severity being patient self-report. ⋯ Nevertheless, despite the availability of drugs and techniques for its effective management, postoperative pain remains undertreated. It is now accepted that the solution to the problem of inadequate pain relief lies not only in the development of new analgesic drugs or technologies but also in the development of an appropriate organization to utilize existing expertise. Methods used to control postoperative pain are numerous; this review focuses on pharmacological and anesthetic methods.