Articles: hyperalgesia.
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The hyperalgesic effects of long-term opioid use in community-dwelling adults with chronic pain have not been widely reported. Therefore, the primary aim of this study was to determine the associations between opioid use and heat pain (HP) perception in a sample of community-dwelling adults with chronic pain. The study cohort involved 187 adults (85 opioid and 102 nonopioid) with chronic pain consecutively admitted to an outpatient interdisciplinary pain treatment program. ⋯ In univariable (P = 0.019) and multiple variable (P = 0.003) linear regression analyses (adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, work status, pain diagnosis, pain severity, depression, and pain catastrophizing), opioid use was associated with lower (more hyperalgesic) nonstandardized values of HP 5-0.5. Similarly, in univariable (P = 0.004) and multiple variable (P = 0.011) linear regression analyses (adjusted for work status, pain diagnosis, pain severity, depression, and pain catastrophizing), opioid use was associated with lower standardized values of HP 5-0.5. In this sample of community-dwelling adults, these observations suggest that long-term opioid use was associated with hyperalgesia independent of other clinical factors known to influence HP perception.
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Opioid analgesics have become a cornerstone in the treatment of moderate to severe pain, resulting in a steady rise of opioid prescriptions. Subsequently, there has been a striking increase in the number of opioid-dependent individuals, opioid-related overdoses, and fatalities. Clinical use of opioids is further complicated by an increasingly deleterious profile of side effects beyond addiction, including tolerance and opioid-induced hyperalgesia (OIH), where OIH is defined as an increased sensitivity to already painful stimuli. ⋯ Several substrates have emerged as potential modulators of OIH, including the N-methyl-D-aspartate and γ-aminobutyric acid receptors, and most notably, the innate neuroimmune system. This review summarizes the neurobiology of OIH in the context of clinical treatment; specifically, we review evidence for several pathways that show promise for the treatment of pain going forward, as prospective adjuvants to opioid analgesics. Overall, we suggest that this paradoxical state be considered an additional target of clinical treatment for chronic pain.
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Damage on one side of the body can also result in pain on the contralateral unaffected side, called mirror-image pain (MIP). Currently, the mechanisms responsible for the development of MIP are unknown. In this study, we investigated the involvement of spinal microglia and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) in the development of MIP using a peripheral inflammatory pain model. ⋯ However, i.t. pretreatment with fluorocitrate, an astrocyte inhibitor, restored minocycline- or IL-1ra-induced contralateral MA. These results suggest that spinal IL-1β derived from activated microglia temporarily suppresses astrocyte activation, which can ultimately prevent the development of contralateral MA under inflammatory conditions. These findings imply that microglial IL-1β plays an important role in regulating the induction of inflammatory MIP.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Evaluation of the effect of ketamine on remifentanil-induced hyperalgesia: a double-blind, randomized study.
Opioids are associated with hyperalgesia that can reduce their analgesic effect. The aim of this study was to determine whether the addition of ketamine reduces remifentanil-induced hyperalgesia; improves its analgesic effect; and alters interleukin 6 (IL-6), IL-8, and IL-10 levels. ⋯ It was not possible to demonstrate that the addition of ketamine (5 μg/kg per minute) is effective in preventing or reducing remifentanil-induced postoperative hyperalgesia in laparoscopic cholecystectomy.