Articles: back-pain.
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Review Meta Analysis
The efficacy of conservative treatment of osteoporotic compression fractures on acute pain relief: a systematic review with meta-analysis.
The aim of this study is to systematically evaluate the efficacy of commonly used non-surgical treatments in acute care of adults with osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (VCFs). ⋯ At present, there is insufficient evidence to inform conservative care for acute pain related to VCF. Large, multinational, placebo/sham-controlled trials to address this gap in evidence are needed.
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Subgroups of patients with chronic low back pain may exhibit differences in self-reported measures of pain, functioning, coping, and psychological distress. The present study compared subgroups of patients with chronic low back pain referred either for pre-spinal cord stimulator (SCS) psychological evaluations or for behavioral pain management (BPM). ⋯ Pre-SCS patients possibly underreport psychological symptoms perhaps to gain SCS approval for SCS. Separate norms and cutoffs for pre-SCS psychological evaluations may be needed to better identify risks of unsuccessful outcomes. Validity scales for measures of psychological distress also could be developed to detect biased reporting. Alternatively, referring clinicians may have referred patients for BPM who were more psychologically distressed and perceived as more in need of psychosocial intervention than those referred for pre-SCS evaluations. Further investigation of clinical referral decisions and assessment bias is warranted to clarify the meaning of these differences and how they apply to patient outcomes.
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This study aims to determine whether older adults reporting back pain (BP) are at increased risk of premature mortality, specifically, to examine the association with disabling/non-disabling pain separately. ⋯ This study confirmed previous findings regarding the relationship between pain and excess mortality. Further, we have shown that, among older adults, this association is specific to disabling pain and to women. Clinicians should be aware not only of the short-term implications of disabling BP but also the longer-term effects. Future research should attempt to understand the mechanisms underpinning this relationship to avoid excess mortality and should aim to determine why the relationship differs in men and women.
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Descending pain modulatory systems control transmission of nociceptive information at the spinal level, and their activity can be modified by cognitive and emotional processes. Thus, it may be possible to learn using cognitive-emotional strategies to specifically target descending pathways in order to achieve pain reduction. ⋯ The present results suggest that healthy subjects are able to learn using cognitive and emotional strategies to reduce their spinal nociception under feedback of their RIII reflex size. However, future studies will have to include a sham feedback group to differentiate true learning effects from expectancy effects induced by the feedback procedure.
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Editorial Comment
Endogenous Pain Modulation: From Humans to Animals and Back.