Articles: chronic.
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Noninvasive and minimally invasive extracranial stimulation has now been widely investigated for the treatment of primary headache disorders, particularly migraine. In this review, we describe methodological challenges in studying occipital and supraorbital stimulation devices. We explore the efficacy and safety of implantable occipital nerve stimulation for primary headache disorders, including the 3 randomized, sham-controlled clinical trials for chronic migraine treatment. We also review noninvasive supraorbital transcutaneous stimulation as a preventive therapy for episodic migraine.
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Exacerbation of pain by chronic stress and comorbidity of pain with stress-related psychiatric disorders, including anxiety and depression, represent significant clinical challenges. However, the underlying mechanisms still remain unclear. Here, we investigated whether chronic forced swim stress (CFSS)-induced exacerbation of neuropathic pain is mediated by the integration of stress-affect-related information with nociceptive information in the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA). ⋯ Suppression of CFSS-elicited depressive-like behaviors by antidepressants imipramine or ifenprodil inhibits the CFSS-induced exacerbation of neuropathic pain. Collectively, our findings suggest that CFSS potentiates synaptic efficiency of the BLA-CeA pathway, leading to the activation of GluN2B-NMDA receptors and sensitization of CeA neurons, which subsequently facilitate pain-related synaptic plasticity of the PB-CeA pathway, thereby exacerbating SNI-induced neuropathic pain. We conclude that chronic stress exacerbates neuropathic pain via the integration of stress-affect-related information with nociceptive information in the CeA.
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Critical care medicine · Apr 2017
Opening the Door: The Experience of Chronic Critical Illness in a Long-Term Acute Care Hospital.
Chronically critically ill patients have recurrent infections, organ dysfunction, and at least half die within 1 year. They are frequently cared for in long-term acute care hospitals, yet little is known about their experience in this setting. Our objective was to explore the understanding and expectations and goals of these patients and surrogates. ⋯ Our study describes the experience of chronically critically ill patients and surrogates in an long-term acute care hospital and the feasibility of patient-focused research in this setting. Our findings indicate overly optimistic expectations about return home and unmet palliative care needs, suggesting the need for integration of palliative care within the long-term acute care hospital. Further research is also needed to more fully understand the challenges of this growing population of ICU survivors.
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A 28-year-old female patient presented through her primary care physician with symptoms of atypical chest pain and chronic cough. Her pain was described as pleuritic and intermittently radiating to the right arm. Her medical history was significant for recurrent respiratory infections, gastritis, and a left ovarian cyst treated with ipsilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. She denied any history of smoking, known lung disease, or extrapulmonary infections.