Pain
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Randomized Controlled Trial
An enriched-enrolment, randomized withdrawal, flexible-dose, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel assignment efficacy study of nabilone as adjuvant in the treatment of diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain.
Cannabinoids are emerging as potential options for neuropathic pain treatment. This study evaluated an oral cannabinoid, nabilone, in the treatment of refractory human diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain (DPN). We performed a single-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, flexible-dose study with an enriched enrollment randomized withdrawal design. ⋯ Potential unmasking occurred in 62% of both groups. Flexible-dose nabilone 1-4 mg/day was effective in relieving DPN symptoms, improving disturbed sleep, quality of life, and overall patient status. Nabilone was well tolerated and successful as adjuvant in patients with DPN.
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There are few studies that have looked at the occurrence of co-morbid conditions amongst patients with back problems. This study assesses the association between of a range of co-morbidities and the labour force participation rates of 45- to 64-year-old Australians with back problems. Logistic regression models were applied to the 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC) data to look at the relationship between chronic back problems, labour force participation and comorbidities. ⋯ For example, an individual with back problems and heart disease is more than 10 times more likely to be out of the labour force than those with back problems alone (OR=10.90, 95% CI=2.91-40.79, P=.0004). Amongst conditions that have a significant impact on labour force participation rates, back problems and multiple co-morbidities are significantly more likely to cause persons with these conditions to be out of the labour force than those with back problems alone or those with no chronic health condition. It is important to consider which co-morbidities an individual has when assessing the impact of back problems on labour force participation, as co-morbid conditions vary in their association with labour force participation.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Reduction of pain-related fear and increased function and participation in work-related upper extremity pain (WRUEP): effects of exposure in vivo.
There is increasing evidence that pain-related fear influences the development and maintenance of pain disability, presumably mediated through the fear-related avoidance of valued activities. Individually tailored graded exposure in vivo (GEXP) has been demonstrated to reduce pain-related fear and increase functional abilities in patients with chronic low back pain, neck pain, and complex regional pain syndrome. The current study aimed to test whether these effects generalize towards patients with work-related upper extremity pain. ⋯ Clinically relevant improvements were observed for pain disability, perceived participation, and autonomy. These favourable changes were maintained until 6-month follow-up. The findings of the current study underscore the external validity of a cognitive-behavioural GEXP treatment for patients with chronic pain reporting increased pain-related fear.
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Polyneuropathy can be linked to chronic pain but also to reduced pain sensitivity. We investigated peripheral C-nociceptors in painful and painless polyneuropathy patients to identify pain-specific changes. Eleven polyneuropathy patients with persistent spontaneous pain and 8 polyneuropathy patients without spontaneous pain were investigated by routine clinical methods. ⋯ Moreover, spontaneous activity of mechanoinsensitive C-nociceptors correlated to less pronounced activity-dependent slowing of conduction (Kendall's tau=-.48, P=.009), suggesting that axons were included in the sensitization process. Hyperexcitability in mechanoinsensitive C-nociceptors was significantly higher in patients with polyneuropathy and pain compared to patients with polyneuropathy without pain, while the difference was much less prominent in mechanosensitive (polymodal) C-nociceptors. This hyperexcitability may be a major underlying mechanism for the pain experienced by patients with painful peripheral neuropathy.