Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain
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The Pain Sensitivity Questionnaire (PSQ), a self-reported scale, has been used to assess the pain sensitivity level in a Caucasian population. However, a validated Mandarin Chinese version of the PSQ is not available. This study was aimed to translate the PSQ into Mandarin Chinese (PSQ-C) and validate it to measure pain sensitivity among Chinese people. ⋯ The PSQ-C is a reliable and useful tool to assess pain sensitivity levels in a Chinese population.
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There is a growing interest in the role of disturbed body perception in people with persistent pain problems such as chronic low back pain (CLBP). A questionnaire, the Fremantle Back Awareness Questionnaire (FreBAQ), was recently developed as a simple and quick way of assessing disturbed perceptual awareness of the back in people with CLBP and appears to have acceptable psychometric properties. The aim of the present study was to develop a Japanese version of the FreBAQ (FreBAQ-J) and evaluate its psychometric properties in a sample of Japanese people with low back pain (LBP). ⋯ The FreBAQ-J has acceptable psychometric properties and is suitable for use in people with LBP. Participants with high levels of disturbed body perception are well targeted by the scale. The functioning of one item (item 8) was poor. Further study is warranted to confirm if this item should be excluded.
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Tension-type headache (TTH) is the most prevalent primary headache. Chronic TTH (CTTH), the most serious form of TTH, is refractory, with a high socio-economic burden. Research studies have shown patients with migraine often had cognitive impairment, but few studies have focused on the cognition in patients with CTTH. ⋯ We also assessed the correlations between the neuroendocrine hormones and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index score, 17-term Hamilton's Depression Scale score, pain intensity, and duration of pain to determine whether the neuroendocrine hormones had any associations with these symptoms of CTTH. These results showed that changes in neuroendocrine hormones were involved in these symptoms of CTTH. Intervention with the neuroendocrine state may be a strategy for CTTH treatment.
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The transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block is a relatively simple regional anesthesia technique which entails the injection of local anesthetics (LA) into the interfascial plane between the internal oblique and transversus abdominis muscles, where nerves supplying the anterolateral abdominal wall course. It is widely used for acute pain management following abdominal surgical procedures. We describe a series of cases in which TAP blocks were used to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of chronic abdominal wall pain (CAWP). ⋯ Transversus abdominis plane blocks are a valuable addition to the diagnostic armamentarium of pain physicians confronted with abdominal pain of unclear origin. Although most patients responded to the LA injection, the varying degrees of response duration may have been influenced by the different etiologies underlying each condition and the variable expressions of placebo responses. Once the abdominal wall and/or its nerves are identified as pain generators, the optimal therapeutic management remains to be determined. Available literature as well as our case series shows that long-term benefit may be obtained with 1 or more injections, but we speculate that this may only be the case for pain with predominantly neuropathic components.
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Historically, transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block has been performed to treat acute abdominal pain that accompanies a variety of surgical procedures. This study represents an innovative approach in which the TAP block was performed on patients experiencing chronic abdominal pain who had failed other forms of pain management. ⋯ Transversus abdominis plane steroid injection can be a helpful in treating somatosensory chronic abdominal pain resistant to other therapeutic modalities.