The Clinical journal of pain
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Applicability of press needles to a double-blind trial: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
Owing to a lack of a suitable needle procedure, it has been impossible to evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture in clinical studies using double-blind testing. We evaluated the applicability of a new kind of press needle (Pyonex) to a double-blind trial by comparing the press needle with a placebo (lacking the needle element). ⋯ The participants could not distinguish between the press needle and a placebo, and the data from the press needle group suggested a specific influence on patients with LBP. These findings imply that the press needle and a placebo provide an effective means of realizing a double-blind setting for clinical studies of acupuncture.
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Controlled Clinical Trial
Confirmatory factor analysis of the coping strategies questionnaire-revised in samples of oncology outpatients and inpatients with pain.
The aims of this study of oncology outpatients with cancer pain were to perform an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of the 48-item Coping Strategy Questionnaire (CSQ) and a confirmatory factor analysis of the 6-factor solution of the Coping Strategy Questionnaire-Revised (CSQ-R) suggested by Riley and Robinson in 1997. In addition, differences in latent factor means and in the CSQ-R subscale scores between inpatients and outpatients were evaluated. ⋯ The 27-item CSQ-R is recommended for use as a clinical instrument. However, further research of the 6-factor structure is recommended to identify reasons for the correlated errors.
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To determine the safety of morphine for procedural pain management in nonintubated infants in the neonatal intensive care unit. ⋯ Morphine administration was associated with respiratory depression but not hypotension when administered to nonintubated infants undergoing central line placement. Morphine should be used with caution in this population.
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No study has previously analyzed pressure pain sensitivity of nerve trunks in migraine. This study aimed to examine the differences in mechanical pain sensitivity over specific nerves between patients with unilateral migraine and healthy controls. ⋯ In patients with unilateral migraine, we found increased mechano-sensitivity of the supra-orbital nerve on the symptomatic side of the head. Outside the head, the same patients showed increased mechano-sensitivity of the main peripheral nerves of both upper limbs, without asymmetries. Such diffuse hypersensitivity of the peripheral nerves lends further evidence to the presence of a state of hyperexcitability of the central nervous system in patients with unilateral migraine.
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This study describes and compares sleep disturbances in chronic pain patients while assessing the role of age, race, gender, and psychological health on sleep. ⋯ The ability of health professionals to identify individuals at risk for sleep disturbance and to understand the dynamics of sleep, pain, and psychological health could improve healthcare quality.