Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Relevance of Water Temperature, Apparatus, and Age to Children's Pain during the Cold Pressor Task.
Effective use of experimental pain in research depends on a thorough understanding of factors influencing their use. Although studies using the cold pressor task (CPT) have critically advanced our knowledge of pain mechanisms, assessment, and management in adults and children, the impact of identified methodological variability in its use is not known (ie, water temperature and apparatus); furthermore, whether methodological variations differentially impact children across development. ⋯ These results provide critically important information about water temperature, apparatus, and child age on CPT pain responding. It informs design of future CPT studies and directs consideration of methodological variability and child age when interpreting study findings.
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Pain drawings have frequently been used for clinical information and research. The aim of this study was to investigate intra- and inter-rater reliability of area measurements performed on pain drawings. Our secondary objective was to verify the reliability when using computers with different screen sizes, both with and without mouse hardware. ⋯ The inter-rater reliability was also high. No significant differences were observed when using different screen sizes or when using or not using the mouse hardware. This suggests that the precision of these measurements is acceptable for the use of this method as a measurement tool in clinical practice and research.
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To investigate (1) the prevalence of chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP) among a sample of community-dwelling older adults and (2) health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in people with CMP, particularly the association with mobility limitations and falls-related factors. ⋯ Older adults with CMP have pronounced mobility limitations and increased falls risk factors, and these are associated with a marked reduction in HRQOL. Future prospective research is required to build on this cross-sectional study.
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Nerve growth factor (NGF) plays a pivotal role in survival, growth, and differentiation of the nervous system. Increased levels of NGF have been reported in human pain disorders. Experimental injection of NGF in humans is known to evoke long-lasting mechanical sensitization and subsequent allodynia and hyperalgesia. ⋯ Intradermal NGF injection is capable of inducing reproducible allodynia and hyperalgesia, and the model is recommended for future experimental and pharmacological pain studies.
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Evidence suggests that complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a manifestation of microvascular dysfunction. Topical combinations of α2-adrenergic receptor agonists or nitric oxide donors with phosphodiesterase or phosphatidic acid inhibitors formulated to treat microvascular dysfunction have been shown to reduce allodynia in a rat model of CRPS-I. Driven by these findings, we assessed the outcomes of CRPS patients treated with a compound analgesic cream (CAC) consisting of ketamine 10%, pentoxifylline 6%, clonidine 0.2%, and dimethyl sulfoxide 6% to 10%. ⋯ These results demonstrate promise for this topical combination as a useful treatment in multimodal therapy for patients with CRPS, with the potential to resolve pain/symptoms in early CRPS patients.