Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain
-
Neuropathic pain is a serious chronic condition strongly affecting quality of life, which can be relieved but cannot be cured. Apart from symptomatic management, treatment should focus on the underlying disorder. The estimated prevalence is at least 1% to 5% of the general population. ⋯ Ancillary investigations may include EMG and computerized tomography/magnetic resonance imaging scans, depending on the localization of the suspected lesion. A limited number of agents, primarily directed at symptom control, are currently approved for use in neuropathic pain. A mechanism-based approach to pharmacological intervention supports the use of polypharmacy in neuropathic pain.
-
The cold pressor task (CPT) was originally developed as a clinically indicative cardiovascular test, and quantifies vascular response and pulse excitability when a subject's hand is immersed into ice water. Since the test procedure results in a gradually increasing cold pain, the CPT has been widely used as a nociceptive stimulus in experimental studies on adults and children. ⋯ Consistent with previous findings, regression analysis reveals that age is significantly associated with pain tolerance. The CPT procedure shows excellent 2 week test-retest stability to assess pain threshold and pain tolerance within a student population.
-
Pain is a subjective experience influenced by multiple factors, and tremendous variety within individuals is present. To evaluate emotional state of pain, catastrophizing score can be used. This study investigated pain catastrophizing ratings in association with experimental pain perception. ⋯ Even small increments in pain catastrophizing score can influence pain perception to deep and tonic stimulations. Catatrophizing may partly explain the variability found in experimental pain studies.
-
To study the relationship between smoking and chronic pain among people aged 65+ years. ⋯ There was an association between smoking and chronic pain among older people, especially regarding pain intensity. This indicates that interventions to help people cease smoking may be one way (among other methods) to ease pain intensity among older people.
-
To measure the prevalence of diagnosed opioid abuse and prescription opioid use in a multistate managed care organization. ⋯ Despite a stable rate of prescription opioid use among the observed population, the prevalence of diagnosed opioid abuse is increasing, particularly in the Medicare population.