Pain
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Adolescent chronic pain may lead to persistent disability and long-term health impairments in adulthood. However, our understanding of which youth are more likely to experience adverse outcomes remains limited. To address this gap, this longitudinal cohort study examined adolescent predictors of various dimensions of young adult health and functioning, including pain, physical health, depression, anxiety, social isolation, and sleep disturbance. ⋯ Moreover, lower sleep quality, greater anxiety symptoms, and worse family functioning predicted worse physical and psychosocial health in adulthood. These findings represent an important first step toward identifying ways to optimize psychological pain interventions. Tailored psychological pain interventions can directly target adolescent vulnerabilities, including mood, sleep, and family risk factors, with the potential to disrupt a lifelong trajectory of pain and suffering.
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Recent studies highlight an interplay between pain perception and emotional responses. This necessitates a thorough investigation into how beliefs and motivational influences respond to visual stimuli of movements. Such an analysis is crucial for understanding the extent to which these factors contribute to disability levels associated with shoulder pain. ⋯ The perception of harm to shoulder movement (β = 0.11; P < 0.001; 95% confidence interval = 5.6-11.8) was significantly associated with the level of shoulder disability, whereas valence did not show a significant association (β = 0.26; P = 0.15; 95% confidence interval = 1.7-10.8). The perception of harm associated with shoulder movements images during daily activities was associated with disability. Individuals who believe that shoulder movements are harmful have greater disability.
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No comparative effectiveness data exist on nonopioid analgesics and nonbenzodiazepine anxiolytics to treat pain with anxiety. We examined the relationship between drug class and central nervous system (CNS) active drug polypharmacy on pain and anxiety levels in Medicare enrollees receiving home health (HH) care. This retrospective cohort study included enrollees with diagnoses and 2+ assessments of pain and anxiety between HH admission and discharge. ⋯ For patients with daily pain plus anxiety, pain was best reduced with one medication or any drug combination without opioid/benzodiazepine; anxiety was best reduced with combinations other than opiate/benzodiazepine. Gabapentinoids or SNRI achieved clinically meaningful pain control. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors provided clinically meaningful anxiety relief.
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Persistent opioid use (POU) is a common marker of harm related to opioid use after trauma. This study determined the incidence and risk factors for POU after hospitalisation due to trauma in New Zealand, among opioid-naïve patients. This was a population-based, retrospective cohort study, using linked data, involving all trauma patients of any age admitted to all NZ hospitals between 2007 and 2019. ⋯ The opioid exposure risk factors associated with POU included switching between different opioids (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.62; 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.51-2.73), prescribed multiple opioids (vs codeine, aOR 1.44; 95% CI 1.37-1.53), slow-release opioid formulations (aOR 1.32; 95% CI 1.26-1.39), and dispensed higher total doses of on the initial discharge prescription (aOR 1.26; 95% CI 1.20-1.33). Overall, 1 in 7 opioid-naïve patients who were exposed to opioids after trauma developed POU. Our findings highlight clinicians should be aware of these factors when continuing opioids on discharge.
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Pharmacological ablation of rostral ventromedial medulla (RVM) mu opioid receptor-expressing cells before peripheral nerve injury prevents the development of neuropathic pain. However, whether these neurons are required for the expression of established neuropathic pain is not known. Male Oprm1Cre heterozygous (MOR Cre ) or wild-type (MOR WT ) mice received AAV8-hSyn-DIO-hM4D(Gi)-mCherry in the RVM. ⋯ Sustained CNO in drinking water before PSNL prevented expression of chronic pain without affecting acute surgical pain; however, relief of chronic pain required sustained CNO treatment. Thus, in male mice, activity of spinally projecting RVM-MOR cells is required (1) for expression and manifestation of both sensory and affective dimensions of established neuropathic pain and (2) to promote descending facilitation that overcomes apparently intact descending inhibition to maintain chronic pain. Enhanced descending facilitation likely regulates the output signal from the spinal cord to the brain to shape the pain experience and may provide a mechanism for nonopioid management of pain.