Articles: neuropathic-pain.
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Observational Study
Long-term disability after blunt chest trauma: Don't miss chronic neuropathic pain!
Introduction The main objective of this prospective study was to assess the incidence of chronic pain and long-term respiratory disability in a single-center cohort of severe blunt chest trauma patients. Methods Over a 10-month period, all consecutive blunt chest trauma patients admitted in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) were screened to participate in a 3-month and 12-month follow-up. The following variables were prospectively assessed: persistence of chronic chest pain requiring regular used of analgesics, neuropathic pain, respiratory disability, physical and mental health status. ⋯ A thoracic trauma severity score ≥12 and a pain score ≥4 at SICU discharge were the only variables significantly associated with the occurrence of neuropathic pain at 3 months (OR = 7 [2-32], p = 0.01 and OR = 16 [4-70], p < 0.0001). Conclusion According to the current study, chronic pain and long-term respiratory disability are very common after severe blunt chest trauma patients. Special attention should be paid to neuropathic pain, frequently under-diagnosed and responsible for significant impairment of quality of life.
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Can J Kidney Health Dis · Jan 2019
ReviewA Review of Cannabis in Chronic Kidney Disease Symptom Management.
Physical and psychological symptom burden in patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) is significantly debilitating; yet, it is often inadequately treated. Legalization of cannabis in Canada may attract increasing interest from patients for its medical use in refractory symptom management, but its indications and long-term adverse health impacts are poorly established, creating a challenge for clinicians to support its use. In this review, we summarize key clinical studies and the level of evidence for nonsynthetic cannabinoids in the treatment of common symptoms encountered in advanced stages of CKD, including chronic pain, nausea and vomiting, anorexia, pruritus, and insomnia. ⋯ Until further studies are conducted, the role of nonsynthetic cannabinoids for symptom management in patients with CKD should be limited to the treatment of chronic neuropathic pain. Clinicians need to be cognizant that nonsynthetic cannabinoid preparations, particularly smoked cannabis, can pose significant health risks and these must be cautiously weighed against the limited substantiated therapeutic benefits of cannabis in patients with CKD.
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Scrambler therapy (ST) is an electro-analgesia therapy for the noninvasive treatment of chronic neuropathic and cancer pain based on a new generation of medical device that uses 5 artificial neurons and is based on a novel theoretical model the differs from gate control theory. The active principle with Scrambler Therapy is such that synthetic "non-pain" information is transmitted by C fiber surface receptors. ⋯ The goal of Scrambler Therapy is to eliminate pain during treatment and allow for long-lasting analgesia after a series of 10 to 12 consecutive treatments performed over a 2-week period. The aim of this review is to clarify the underlying theory of Scrambler Therapy and describe the appropriate usage method that maximizes its effectiveness while reducing bias and deepen the explanation of the artificial neuron technology associated with Scrambler Therapy.
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We provide an up-to-date review of the pharmacological treatment of neuropathic pain with emphasis on the latest evidence-based recommendations for its pharmacological treatment. Drugs proposed as first line include tricyclic antidepressants (particularly amitriptyline), serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (particularly duloxetine), pregabalin and gabapentin. ⋯ Third line treatments include strong opioids and botulinum toxin A (for peripheral neuropathic pain). Perspectives include the development of new compounds and a more personalized therapeutic approach, which is made possible by recent progress in the assessment and understanding of neuropathic pain.