Articles: patients.
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SUMMARY. The pressure pain threshold (PPT), i.e. the least stimulus intensity at which a subject perceives pain, was studied in 30 patients with chronic unilateral pain in the shoulder and arm region. Fourteen trigger points were investigated on both sides of the body using pressure algometry. ⋯ Although the authors expected to find segmentally reduced PPT values on the painful side of the body, a generalized reduction of PPT values was present at all peripheral and spinal segmental sites. Some correlations between segmentally related trigger points were found by factor analysis. Copyright 1996 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.
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Past research has consistently demonstrated high rates of psychopathology in patients disabled with chronic low back pain. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate whether functional restoration treatment of these patients would lead to significant changes in psychopathology. ⋯ Results clearly documented significant decreases in prevalence rates of psychiatric disorders, particularly somatoform pain disorder and major depression. Such findings demonstrate that effective rehabilitation can significantly decrease the high rates of psychopathology commonly found in chronic low back pain patients.
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J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis · Nov 1996
Thermoregulatory vasococonstriction and shivering impede therapeutic hypothermia in acute ischemic stroke patients.
We tested the hypothesis that vasoconstriction and shivering thresholds are sufficiently reduced by acute stroke to permit induction of therapeutic hypothermia without additional pharmacological inhibition of thermoregulatory control. ⋯ Vasoconstriction and shivering were initiated at roughly normal temperatures in ischemic stroke patients, and these thermoregulatory responses prevented induction of therapeutic hypothermia. Pharmacological reduction of the vasoconstriction and shivering thresholds will be required if therapeutic hypothermia for stroke patients is to be induced easily by surface cooling.
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To assess agreement among health professionals with regard to the need for urgent care among emergency department patients. ⋯ Even when using the same criteria, health professionals frequently disagree about the urgency of care in ED patients. When retrospective reviewers disagree with a prospective assessment of urgency, the potential exists for denial of payment or even lawsuits. Because the subjectivity of urgency definitions may increase disagreement, the development of more objective and uniform definitions may help improve agreement.