Articles: opioid.
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Understanding factors that explain why some women experience greater postoperative pain and consume more opioids after cesarean delivery is crucial to building an evidence base for personalized prevention. Comprehensive psychosocial assessment with validated questionnaires in the preoperative period can be time-consuming. A three-item questionnaire has shown promise as a simpler tool to be integrated into clinical practice, but its brevity may limit the ability to explain heterogeneity in psychosocial pain modulators among individuals. This study compared the explanatory ability of three models: (1) the 3-item questionnaire, (2) a 58-item questionnaire (long) including validated questionnaires (e.g., Brief Pain Inventory, Patient Reported Outcome Measurement Information System [PROMIS]) plus the 3-item questionnaire, and (3) a novel 19-item questionnaire (brief) assessing several psychosocial factors plus the 3-item questionnaire. Additionally, this study explored the utility of adding a pragmatic quantitative sensory test to models. ⋯ The brief questionnaire may be more clinically feasible than longer validated questionnaires, while still performing better and integrating a more comprehensive psychosocial assessment than the three-item questionnaire.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Apr 2024
Mild Traumatic Brain Injury-Induced Augmented Postsurgical Pain Is Driven by Central Serotonergic Pain-Facilitatory Signaling.
Individuals recovering from mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) have increased rates of acute and chronic pain. However, the mechanism through which mTBI triggers heightened pain responses and the link between mTBI and postsurgical pain remain elusive. Recent data suggest that dysregulated serotonergic pain-modulating circuits could be involved. We hypothesized that mTBI triggers dysfunction in descending serotonergic pain modulation, which exacerbates acute pain and delays pain-related recovery after surgery. ⋯ Collectively, our results show that descending serotoninergic pain-facilitating signaling is responsible for nociceptive sensitization after mTBI and that central endogenous opioid tone opposes serotonin's effects. Understanding brain injury-related changes in endogenous pain modulation may lead to improved pain control for those with TBI undergoing surgery.
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Breast cancer patients on chemotherapy who receive pegfilgrastim to prevent neutropenia may experience severe bone pain as a side effect. Traditional treatment recommendations include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), acetaminophen, opioids, and/or antihistamine use. However, little research was found comparing these interventions. The study aim was to address the gaps in literature and to explore the use of and perceived effectiveness of loratadine versus acetaminophen or NSAIDs in women with breast cancer treated with pegfilgrastim. This study also sought to understand how patients became aware of loratadine or other treatments for management of bone pain. ⋯ Randomized controlled trials are needed to adequately assess the effectiveness of all three medication options. Because little is known about optimal use of any of these medications for pegfilgrastim-induced bone pain, it is also important to identify the optimal time to initiate treatment and ideal treatment duration.
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This study assesses disparities in medications for opioid use disorder in adults with opioid use disorder and examines the associations between state-level COVID-19 lockdown and telehealth policies and medications for opioid use disorder utilization rates during the COVID-19 pandemic. ⋯ Monthly medications for opioid use disorder rates increased during the pandemic, with higher rates in men, White individuals, and residents of the Northeast region. States with policies permitting telehealth prescribing of controlled substances also had higher medications for opioid use disorder rates, supporting a future expansion of medications for opioid use disorder-related telehealth to improve access to care.
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In the Emergency Department (ED), ultrasound-guided nerve blocks (UGNBs) have become a cornerstone of multimodal pain regimens. We investigated current national practices of UGNBs across academic medical center EDs, and how these trends have changed over time. ⋯ All programs participating in our study report performing UGNB in their ED, which is a 16% increase over the last 5 years. UGNB's are currently performed safely and effectively in the ED, however practice improvements can still be made. Creating multi-disciplinary committees at local and national levels can standardize guidelines and practice policies to optimize patient safety and outcomes.