Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain
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Chronic pain is a well-known phenomenon. The differential diagnosis between neuropathic and nociceptive pain syndromes is a challenge. Consequently, assessment instruments that can distinguish between these conditions in a standardized way are of the utmost importance. The Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs (LANSS) is a screening tool developed to identify chronic neuropathic pain. The aim of this study was the Portuguese language translation, linguistic adaptation of the LANSS pain scale, its semantic validation, internal consistency, temporal stability, as well its validity and discriminative power. ⋯ The Portuguese LANSS version pain scale properties lead us to the conclusion that such a cross-cultural version is a reliable and valid instrument for the differentiation of this type of pain. Its usage is recommended.
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Observational Study
Lumbosacral Epiduroscopy Findings Predict Treatment Outcome.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the significance of diagnostic markers obtained through epiduroscopy by evaluating the accuracy of outcome prediction after treatment of epidural pathology using epiduroscopy. ⋯ Our results show that lumbosacral epiduroscopy predicts outcome of treatment accurately in the majority of patients. This suggests that information obtained through epiduroscopy may carry significant diagnostic and prognostic value.
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The purpose of this study was to identify ethnic differences in interdisciplinary pain treatment outcome and whether these differences occur while controlling for the effects of demographics, psychosocial, and secondary gain. ⋯ Results support the notion that ethnic differences in pain treatment outcome exist. Further, ethnic minority groups appear to have greater levels of distress compared to Caucasians. However, African Americans, Latino/a's and Caucasians demonstrated similar improvements on all outcome measures, with exception of the use of prayer. Future studies should begin to explore the mechanisms to explain why ethnic group differences in pain treatment outcome occur.
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Our goal was to ascertain the prevalence of widespread pain in our cohort of patients with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). ⋯ In this systematic assessment of the incidence of widespread pain in a large cohort of patients with CRPS, important widespread pain affected > 10% of patients. Our data support the inclusion of routine enquiries about additional pains in the clinical assessment of patients with CRPS.