Pain
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Clinical Trial
Predicting responses to self-management treatments for chronic pain: application of the pain stages of change model.
Psychological treatments emphasizing a self-management approach have become commonly accepted alternatives to medical interventions for chronic pain. Unfortunately, these approaches often fail to engage a significant portion of targeted individuals and are associated with high drop-out and relapse rates. Informed by the transtheoretical model of behavior change and the cognitive behavioral perspective on chronic pain, the Pain Stages of Change Questionnaire (PSOCQ) was developed to assess readiness to adopt a self-management approach to chronic pain. ⋯ Separate analyses revealed that Action and Maintenance scores increased over the course of treatment, and that changes in the PSOCQ scales were associated with improved outcomes. These findings suggest that increased commitment to a self-management approach to chronic pain may serve as a mediator or moderator of successful treatment. This study supports the predictive validity and utility of the PSOCQ, as well as the relevance of the stages of change model to self-management of chronic pain.
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Opioid-related constipation is one of the most frequent side effects of chronic pain treatment. Enteral administration of naloxone blocks opioid action at the intestinal receptor level but has low systemic bioavailability due to marked hepatic first-pass metabolism. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of oral naloxone on opioid-associated constipation in an intraindividually controlled manner. ⋯ All side effects terminated after 0.5-6 h. This controlled study demonstrates that orally administered naloxone improves symptoms of opioid associated constipation and reduces laxative use. To prevent systemic withdrawal signs, therapy should be started with low doses and patients carefully monitored during titration.
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Evoked potentials in response to painful stimuli have been studied as objective measures of pain. Bromm has advocated experimental conditions in which, (1) stimulus intensities are randomized, and (2) subjects rate each stimulus. However, a cognitive, i.e. information processing, 'late positive component' (LPC), e.g. the P300, may be elicited by these same conditions, whether or not the stimuli are painful. ⋯ The Incremental LPC (average amplitudes from 350 to 650 ms) had a more parietal topography (amplitude at electrode Pz greater than at Cz) than the Oddball Standards LPC (Cz > Pz; protocol x electrode interaction P<0.001). This implies that the Rating Protocol LPC included P300-like activity. The parietal Incremental activity began as early as 250-350 ms after the stimulus in the responses to the most painful stimuli and therefore can confound the measurement of pain activity in the evoked potential.