Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain
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Pain drawings have frequently been used for documentation of pain and a convenient diagnosis tool. Pain drawings were found to be associated with psychological states in chronic patients with low back pain. Few researchers have investigated pain drawings except in low back pain. The aim of this study was to investigate the pain, pain drawings, psychological characteristics, and pain interference in the head, neck-shoulder (NS), and low-back/lower-limb (LB-LL) regions among patients with chronic pain. ⋯ Our results suggest that the characteristics of patients with nonorganic drawings differ according to body regions.
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Fibromyalgia (FM) has been associated with a higher prevalence of suicidal behavior. Nevertheless, much remains unknown about suicide risk factors for this chronic pain disorder. In the present study, the relationship of suicidal ideation in FM with a number of sociodemographic, clinical, and psychological variables was analyzed. ⋯ The presence of suicidal ideation in FM patients is closely related to comorbid depression, anxiety and to a higher impact of the disease in daily life.
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The aim was to evaluate differences in the autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity, indexed by heart rate variability (HRV) in apparently healthy subjects with self-reported symptoms of pain (SRSP) within an exploratory analysis. ⋯ Consistent with evidence on changes in HRV in patients with clinical conditions of chronic or recurrent pain, this is the first study to show that healthy individuals who report symptoms of pain may have lower parasympathetic activity revealed by measures of HRV.
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Opioid induced depression of sex hormones is a common finding in chronic pain patients receiving long-term opioids by oral, parenteral and even intrathecal routes of administration. The hypothalamic suppression by opioids leads to a hypogonadal state with low testosterone levels in males and subsequent low bone mineral density (BMD). ⋯ Testosterone supplementation was found to largely correct the effects of intrathecal opioids on testosterone levels and BMD.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Assessment of Pain and Activity Using an Electronic Pain Diary and Actigraphy Device in a Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Crossover Trial of Celecoxib in Osteoarthritis of the Knee.
The primary goal was to determine whether a composite measure of pain and activity is a more responsive assessment of analgesic effect than pain alone or activity alone in patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. ⋯ We have identified composite pain-activity measures that are similarly or more responsive than pain-alone measures in patients with OA. Further research is warranted to determine the optimal method for computing these composites.