Articles: pain-clinics.
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This randomised controlled trial evaluated the effect of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of genicular nerve on muscle strength in osteoarthritis knee patients with chronic pain. ⋯ Application of RFA to genicular nerves in chronic OA knee patients resulted in better pain relief, improved functionality and increased muscle strength at extension and flexion at 3 months follow-up.
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Recent advancements in nurse anesthesiology fellowship training programs have helped to establish advanced pain management services for rural communities. Consensus guidelines to direct the rural provider toward the most valid and reliable measures for pain assessment and functional outcomes evaluation are not presently available. The primary aim of this initiative was to establish consensus guidelines for a comprehensive outcome evaluation program with specific time intervals for assessments that can be utilized by all rural pain clinics. ⋯ Round II, consensus was achieved for: (1) the use of Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale as a suitable instrument when literacy or communication pose a barrier but not as a primary assessment; and (2) the use of the Brief Pain Index-Short Form for functional outcome measures. During round III, consensus was reached for: (1) the use of the Oswestry Disability Index as a functional outcome measure; and (2) pain reassessment being performed within 14 days of intervention. This initiative provides rural pain clinics with a comprehensive outcome evaluation program with specific time intervals for assessments.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Parental experience of neonatal pain research while participating in the Parental touch trial (Petal).
Parental involvement in neonatal comfort care is a core component of family-centred care. Yet, parents experience a range of positive and negative feelings when providing pain-relieving interventions for their infants. Parents of infants who participated in the Parental touch trial ( Petal ), a multicentre randomised controlled trial investigating the impact of gentle parental touch on neonatal pain, were asked to complete an anonymous survey. ⋯ Parents reported that providing gentle touch to their children during painful procedures was associated with positive emotions, such as feeling "useful" (64%) and "reassured" (53%). Furthermore, nearly all parents (98%) were pleased to have participated in the Petal trial and would consider, or maybe consider, participating in further research studies. These results underscore the importance of structuring trials around parental involvement and providing opportunities for parents to be involved in providing comfort to their infants during necessary painful clinical procedures.
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Botulinum toxin (BoNT), a presynaptic inhibitor of acetylcholine (Ach) release at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ), is a successful and safe drug for the treatment of several neurological disorders. However, a wide and recent literature review has demonstrated that BoNT exerts its effects not only at the "periphery" but also within the central nervous system (CNS). Studies from animal models, in fact, have shown a retrograde transport to the CNS, thus modulating synaptic function. ⋯ In this new light, BoNT might interfere with the activity of spinal, brain stem, and cortical circuitry, modulating excitability and the functional organization of CNS in healthy conditions. Botulinum toxins efficacy on CNP is the result of a wide and complex action on many and diverse mechanisms at the basis of the maladaptive plasticity, the core of the pathogenesis of CNP. This systematic review aims to discuss in detail the BoNT's mechanisms and effects on peripheral and central neuroplasticity, at the basis for the clinical efficacy in CNP syndromes.
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The pressing need for safer, more efficacious analgesics is felt worldwide. Preclinical tests in animal models of painful conditions represent one of the earliest checkpoints novel therapeutics must negotiate before consideration for human use. Traditionally, the pain status of laboratory animals has been inferred from evoked nociceptive assays that measure their responses to noxious stimuli. ⋯ The analgesia conferred by meloxicam and gabapentin was compared in the monosodium iodoacetate knee osteoarthritis model, with meloxicam more effectively ameliorating digging deficits, in line with human patients finding meloxicam more effective. Finally, in a visceral pain model, the decrease in digging behavior correlated with the extent of disease. Ultimately, we make a case for adopting ethological assays, such as digging, in studies of pain in laboratory animals, which we believe to be more representative of the human experience of pain and thus valuable in assessing clinical potential of novel analgesics in animals.