Pain
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Efficacy and safety of tanezumab versus naproxen in the treatment of chronic low back pain.
Tanezumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody that specifically inhibits nerve growth factor as a treatment for chronic pain. This phase IIB study investigated the efficacy and safety of tanezumab for chronic low back pain vs placebo and naproxen. Patients (N=1347) received intravenous tanezumab (5, 10, or 20mg every 8weeks), naproxen (500mg twice daily), or placebo. ⋯ The most frequently reported adverse events resulting in discontinuation of tanezumab treatment were arthralgia and paresthesia; the highest frequency was observed with tanezumab 20mg (both 1.4%). Serious adverse event incidence was similar across treatments. In conclusion, tanezumab provided significantly greater improvement in pain, function, and global scores vs placebo and naproxen in patients with chronic low back pain.
-
Multicenter Study
Chronic migraine and chronic tension-type headache are associated with concomitant low back pain: results of the German Headache Consortium study.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between low and frequent low back pain and chronic migraine (CM) and chronic tension-type headache (CTTH) in a large, German population-based sample. Headaches were diagnosed according to International Classification of Headache Disorders-2 criteria and categorized according to frequency (episodic 1-14 days/month or chronic ≤15 days/month) and headache type (migraine or TTH). We defined frequent low back pain as self-reported low back pain on ≥15 days/month. ⋯ The odds of having frequent low back pain were between 13.7 (95% CI 7.4-25.3) and 18.3 (95% CI 11.9-28.0) times higher in all chronic headache subtypes when compared to No Headache. Low and frequent low back pain was associated with CM and CTTH. Multiple explanations may contribute to the association of headache and back pain, including the notion that the neurobiology of chronic headache, independent of primary headache type, not only involves the trigeminal pain pathway, but is also a part of abnormal general pain processing.
-
Patient-reported outcome measures are being developed for more relevant assessments of pain management. The patient acceptable symptom state (PASS) ("feeling well") and the minimal clinically important improvement (MCII) ("feeling better") have been determined in clinical trials, but not in daily pain management. We carried out a national multicenter cohort study of patients over the age of 50years with painful knee osteoarthritis (KOA) or hip osteoarthritis (HOA) who had visited their general practitioner and required treatment for more than 7days. ⋯ This improvement is smaller than that recorded in randomized controlled trials, and was the same for both sites, both at rest and on movement. In conclusion, patient-reported outcome values in daily practice differ from those in clinical trials, and their determinant factors may depend on the site of osteoarthritis. Assessments of the treatment of painful osteoarthritis should be adapted to the characteristics and daily life of the patient, to personalize patient management.