Pain
-
This study examines the incidence of sexual and physical abuse and its relationship to selected pain description and psychological variables in a sample of 36 chronic pelvic pain patients. Abuse was measured on a 6-item reliable scale, and abused and non-abused respondents were compared on 4 categories of variables expected to be related to the effects of abuse (pain description, functional impact of pain, other's response to pain, and psychosocial impact of pain). Results indicated that 19 of 36 patients reported prior abuse. ⋯ No differences between the abused and non-abused groups were noted on demographic, pain description, or the functional interference variables. On the psychological variables, however, the abused group reported less perceived life control, greater punishing responses to pain, and higher levels of somatization and global distress than the non-abused group. These results indicate a high incidence of sexual abuse in patients with chronic pelvic pain and suggest that abused and non-abused patients differ on psychological but not pain description or self-reported functional interference variables.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Comparison of hydromorphone continuous subcutaneous infusion and basal rate subcutaneous infusion plus PCA in cancer pain: a pilot study.
In this pilot randomized, double-blind, cross-over study, the effectiveness and safety of hydromorphone administration by continuous subcutaneous (s.c.) infusion (mode A) and by continuous basal rate s.c. infusion + PCA (mode B) were compared in 8 cancer patients. Patients experimented with each infusion mode during 48 h. Statistical analysis was performed on data collected in 7 patients during 36 h from 22:00 h on day 1 to 10:00 h on day 3 and from 22:00 h on day 3 to 10:00 h on day 5. ⋯ Only 2 patients chose mode B at the end of the study, but it was interesting to note that those 2 patients were the youngest of the group. This study demonstrated the effectiveness and safety of both modes of hydromorphone administration. The data suggest that it may be possible to identify particular cancer patients which can really benefit from an association of a basal rate infusion and PCA for opiate administration.
-
The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of pre- and postinjury infiltration with lidocaine on alterations in mechanical and thermal sensitivity after heat injury to the skin. In the first part of the study, burn injuries (15 x 25 mm rectangular thermode, 50 degrees C, 7 min) were produced twice in each subject on the medial side of the left and right calves at least 24 h apart in 8 healthy, unmedicated male volunteers, in order to investigate the effects of the injury on sensitivity in untreated skin. In the second part of the study, burn injuries (15 x 25 mm rectangular thermode, 50 degrees C, 6 min) were produced twice in each subject on the medial side of the left and right calves at least 24 h apart (n = 10). ⋯ In the second part of the study, it was observed that pre-injury infiltration with lidocaine reduced hyperalgesia to pinprick and brush outside the injury more effectively than postinjury block, but only for the first 70 min after injury, while no significant difference was observed 100-190 min after injury. Likewise, there was no difference in thermal thresholds inside the injury between pre- and postinjury treatment at the end of the study period. It is concluded, that a shortlasting 'preemptive' infiltration with lidocaine may postpone but not prevent the occurrence of hyperalgesia outside a thermal injury.
-
Painful diabetic neuropathy is one of the most common complications of insulin-dependent diabetes in man. Conflicting results have been obtained in experimentally diabetic animals subjected to pain stimuli. This work aimed to systematically study the response of rats made diabetic (hyperglycemia > or = 14 mM) by injection of streptozocin (STZ) (75 mg/kg, i.p.), to various pain stimuli: mechanical, thermal (warm and cold) and chemical. ⋯ Spontaneous motor activity of the rats was lowered. This model is thus of interest as the observed reactions to noxious and non-noxious stimuli correspond to hyperalgesia and allodynia, symptoms encountered in painful diabetic neuropathy in man. Operating conditions for this model are discussed.
-
Peripheral tissue damage or nerve injury often leads to pathological pain processes, such as spontaneous pain, hyperalgesia and allodynia, that persist for years or decades after all possible tissue healing has occurred. Although peripheral neural mechanisms, such as nociceptor sensitization and neuroma formation, contribute to these pathological pain processes, recent evidence indicates that changes in central neural function may also play a significant role. ⋯ We also assess the physiological, biochemical, cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie plasticity induced in the central nervous system (CNS) in response to noxious peripheral stimulation. Finally, we examine theories which have been proposed to explain how injury or noxious stimulation lead to alterations in CNS function which influence subsequent pain experience.