Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain
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To ensure an adequate pain therapy with high patient adherence, it is necessary to know and consider patient preferences. A discrete choice experiment was used to obtain patients' preferences regarding treatment with systemic or topical pain medication. Patients with peripheral neuropathic pain (pNP) were recruited in two pain-focused practices in Germany. ⋯ The impairment of sleep quality was also significant but less important (1.556 [1.346 to 1.798]). Local side effects were more likely to be accepted than systemic side effects. The risk of sexual dysfunction as a side effect of treatment is very important for patients, although it has received little attention in the literature.
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Observational Study
Percutaneous cervical cordotomy for the treatment of cancer pain: A prospective case series of 52 patients with a long-term follow-up.
The aim of this study is to describe the effects of percutaneous cervical cordotomy (PCC) on pain, opioid consumption, adverse events, and satisfaction in palliative care patients with cancer pain after PCC until end of life. ⋯ Percutaneous cervical cordotomy is an effective treatment for unilateral cancer pain. The reduction in pain, reduction in opioid consumption, and hypoesthetic area remain stable until death.
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Dorsal root ganglion stimulation (DRG-S) is used as a treatment for chronic low-back pain (CLBP), although its underlying mechanisms remain elusive. CLBP patients have been found to have reduced mechanoreceptive perception, reduced endogenous analgesia, as well as deep-tissue hyperalgesia when compared with healthy controls. Using quantitative sensory testing (QST), we studied if DRG-S in CLBP patients results in changes in pain processing. ⋯ Our results suggest that DRG-S in CLBP patients reduces deep-tissue hyperalgesia in the low back, while improving mechanoreceptive perception. These changes in both neuropathic and nociceptive components of CLBP were accompanied by clinical improvements in pain and function.
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Evaluate the Pain Impact Index, a simple, brief, easy-to-use, and novel tool to assess the impact of chronic pain in community-dwelling older adults. ⋯ The Pain Impact Index showed evidence of unidimensionality, was able to successfully differentiate between levels of pain impact, and had good evidence of construct validity.
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Oxaliplatin often causes acute or chronic peripheral neuropathy in patients with an intestinal or pancreatic tumor, but in-depth insights in its influence on quality of life (QoL) are lacking. We explored the influence of acute oxaliplatin-induced peripheral neuropathy (OIPN) on daily QoL in these patients. ⋯ Acute OIPN, together with other side effects of chemotherapeutic treatment and the difficulties that come with the diagnosis of cancer and its prognosis, largely influences patients' daily QoL. Managing expectations (by patient education) seems important.