Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain
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Comparative Study
Direct Medical Costs and Medication Compliance among Fibromyalgia Patients: Duloxetine Initiators vs. Pregabalin Initiators.
To assess and compare direct medical costs and medication compliance between patients with fibromyalgia who initiated duloxetine and patients with fibromyalgia who initiated pregabalin in 2008. ⋯ In a real-world setting, patients with fibromyalgia who initiated duloxetine in 2008 had better medication compliance and consumed less inpatient, outpatient, and total medical costs than those who initiated pregabalin.
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Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is a pain syndrome characterized by pain in the trigeminal area often accompanied by a brief facial spasm or tic. The purpose of our study was to investigate the efficacy and clinical utility of CT-guided pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) for treatment of TN. Patients who were diagnosed with severe TN between September 2010 and October 2010 at Beijing Tiantan Hospital were included. ⋯ The remaining 13 patients had residual pain 2 weeks after the PRFT and had to receive radiofrequency thermocoagulation (RFTC). In conclusion, the results of our study demonstrate that CT-guided PRFT is not an effective method of pain treatment for idiopathic TN as compared with conventional RFTC. However, CT-guided PRFT is associated with less complication than RFTC.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Report of a Preliminary Discontinued Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial of the Anti-TNF-α Chimeric Monoclonal Antibody Infliximab in Complex Regional Pain Syndrome.
Inflammation appears to play a role in CRPS as, for example, cytokines (like TNF-α) are involved in the affected limb. The ongoing inflammation is probably responsible for the central sensitization that sometimes occurs in CRPS. Thus, early start of a TNF-α antagonist may counteract inflammation, thereby preventing rest damage and leading to recovery of the disease. ⋯ This study was terminated before the required number of participants had been reached for sufficient statistical power. Nevertheless, a trend was found toward an effect of infliximab on the initially high TNF-α concentration.
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Symptoms of central sensitization syndrome (CSS) were evaluated among three different groups of temporomandibular disorder (TMD) patients. Additionally, TMD group differences in pain and pain-related disability were assessed, as well as emotional distress. ⋯ Myofacial TMD is characterized by a high degree of comorbidity of symptoms of CSS and associated emotional distress.