Articles: pain-clinics.
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Pre-existing or chronic pain is a relevant risk factor for severe postoperative pain. The prevalence of pre-existing and chronic pain in hospital depends on the time definition used and is approximately 44 % and 33%, at 3 or 6 months, respectively. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and importance of pre-existing pain in patients treated by a postoperative acute pain service (APS) and to evaluate the requirements for treatment and resources as well as its quality in this context. ⋯ Pre-existing pain is a common comorbidity in surgery patients treated by the APS. There were no significant differences in treatment requirements and quality of care between the patients. This is in contrast to other studies of postoperative pain management which showed that patients with pre-existing postoperative pain had higher pain intensity. This indicates indirectly that the presence of pre-existing pain should be further evaluated as a potentially useful indication for the support by an APS. However there is an urgent need for further studies to clarify whether this indirect effect can be replicated at other hospitals or in other patient collectives. Also it has to be clarified what benefits pain patients have from this kind of treatment: if they benefit from the APS in general or from the special technique, if there is a long-term effect lasting beyond treatment in the APS or if this group of patients would benefit in general from multiprofessional and non-invasive concepts of acute pain treatment.
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Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is a neuropathic sequelae in 8% to 27% of individuals with prior varicella zoster virus infection and herpes zoster resulting in retrograde demyelination, neurotoxic reactive oxygen species levels, and proinflammatory cytokine activation of microglia. Pain management strategies are well documented, but not always effective. Laser therapy has shown utility in nerve injury-related pain disorders and was considered a potentially efficacious intervention. ⋯ Theoretically, laser therapy induced tissue changes in this case occurring at and below the skin surface altering inflammatory and excitatory peripheral mechanisms noted to take place in the PHN patient. Peripheral nociceptor firing must be brought back to normal thresholds to resolve such chronic neuropathic pain and inhibit the possible central sensitization component. Anti-inflammatory cytokines, growth factors, nitric oxide, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), and other mechanisms stimulated by laser therapy as noted in medical literature may be central to the favorable response seen in this patient. Controlled clinical trials of class 4 laser therapy in the PHN patient population with similar doses would be beneficial to determine if this is an effective treatment option in PHN.
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Total hip and knee arthroplasty (THA and TKA) are frequently performed surgical procedures with excellent long-term functional outcomes. However, pain is pronounced in the early post-operative phase, especially after TKA. Glucocorticoids have proven to relieve post-operative pain, but a higher dose might be needed, as compared with the lower dose recommended to reduce post-operative nausea and vomiting (PONV). Prior to this PhD study, procedure-specific data were limited on the effects of high-dose glucocorticoid on post-operative pain and recovery in THA and TKA. So, the following question remained to be answered: does high-dose glucocorticoid added to a multimodal analgesic regime reduce pain and improve recovery after THA and TKA? ⋯ This PhD thesis render new knowledge by demonstrating - for the first time - detailed procedure-specific beneficial effects of a single pre-operative dose of MP, 125 mg IV, on acute post-operative analgesia in THA, and on acute post-operative analgesia and on other immediate recovery aspects in TKA. Noteworthy, these benefits were observed with MP added to a comprehensive multimodal oral analgesic regime consisting of paracetamol, celecoxib and gabapentin - and in TKA also to an intra-operative local infiltration analgesia regimen. However, current data in hip and knee surgery preclude firm safety conclusions, and call for large-scale studies to definitively clarify the risk-benefit ratio, before final recommendations can be made. Also, the shortage of dose-finding data calls for studies to define the minimal effective dose to provide post-operative analgesia.
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The objective of the study was to collect data on the direct and indirect economic cost of chronic pain among patients attending a pain management clinic in Ireland. ⋯ The cost of chronic pain among intensive service users is significant, and when extrapolated to a population level, these costs represent a very substantial economic burden.