Pain
-
Lumbar medial branch radiofrequency neurotomy (RFN), a common treatment for chronic low back pain due to facet joint osteoarthritis (FJOA), may amplify paraspinal muscle atrophy due to denervation. This study aimed to investigate the asymmetry of paraspinal muscle morphology change in patients undergoing unilateral lumbar medial branch RFN. Data from patients who underwent RFN between March 2016 and October 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. ⋯ The RFN side had a higher increase in multifidus muscle atrophy compared with the contralateral side. The absence of significant preinterventional degenerative asymmetry and the specificity of the effect to the multifidus muscle suggest a link to RFN. These findings highlight the importance of considering the long-term effects of lumbar medial branch RFN on paraspinal muscle health.
-
Research has consistently suggested that media consumption plays a vital role in children's socialization, including the socialization of painful experiences. Past research examining young children's popular media revealed worrisome trends in media depictions of pain; it consisted of narrow depictions of pain, gender stereotypes, and an overwhelming lack of empathy from observers, which could contribute to pain-related stigma. Research has not yet examined how pain is portrayed in adolescent media, despite adolescence being the developmental period when chronic pain often emerges. ⋯ Furthermore, regardless of observed gender or "race," observers displayed a lack of empathy for sufferers and rarely engaged in prosocial behaviors. Popular media may serve as an agent of socialization in adolescence; thus, pain depictions may be a powerful force in propagating pain-related stigma and inequities. An opportunity exists to harness popular media to adaptively and accurately portray pain to adolescents.
-
Approximately 10% to 20% of individuals with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection may develop long-COVID syndrome, characterized by various physical and mental health issues, including pain. Previous studies suggested an association between small fibre neuropathy and pain in long-COVID cases. In this case-control study, our aim was to identify small fibre neuropathy in patients experiencing painful long-COVID syndrome. ⋯ This case-control study showed that approximately 50% of patients experiencing painful long-COVID syndrome had small fibre neuropathy. However, in our patient cohort, this specific post-COVID-19 complication was unrelated to demographic and COVID-19 clinical variables. Approximately half of our sample of patients with painful long-COVID symptoms met diagnostic criteria for small fibre neuropathy.
-
Some patients with back pain contribute disproportionately to high healthcare costs; however, characteristics of high-cost users with back pain are not well defined. We described high-cost healthcare users based on total costs among a population-based cohort of adults with back pain within the Ontario government's single-payer health system across sociodemographic, health, and behavioural characteristics. We conducted a population-based cohort study of Ontario adult (aged 18 years or older) respondents of the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) with back pain (2003-2012), linked to administrative data (n = 36,605; weighted n = 2,076,937, representative of Ontario). ⋯ High-cost users tended to be current/former smokers, obese, and report fair/poor mental health. High-cost users (based on total costs) among adults with back pain account for nearly half of all healthcare spending over a 1-year period and are associated with older age, lower income, comorbidities, and fair/poor general health. Findings identify characteristics associated with a high-risk group for back pain to inform healthcare and public health strategies that target upstream determinants.