The Clinical journal of pain
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Treatment of chronic low back pain: a randomized clinical trial comparing multidisciplinary group-based rehabilitation program and oral drug treatment with oral drug treatment alone.
This randomized clinical trial examined the efficacies of a group-based multidisciplinary rehabilitation program and oral drug treatment versus oral drug treatment alone in Iran. ⋯ The findings revealed that the group-based multidisciplinary program could improve most domains of quality of life in chronic low back pain patients in the 6-month period. However, there were no significant differences between two groups in sub scales such as general health, social function and role emotional.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
The role of periaqueductal gray and cingulate cortex during suppression of pain in complex regional pain syndrome.
Complex regional pain syndrome I (CRPS I) is a frequent and debilitating condition with unclear etiology. Hypothesizing that maladaptive central processes play a crucial role in CRPS, the current study set out to explore cerebral activation during a task to suppress the feeling of pain under constant painful stimulation. ⋯ Patients differ from healthy controls by the activation pattern of cerebral areas that belong to the descending opioid pain suppression pathway: PAG and cingulate cortex are activated significantly less during suppression of pain, regardless of whether the symptomatic or asymptomatic hand was stimulated. Thus, there is a generalized functional change in individuals with CRPS I. However, it cannot be deducted whether the abnormality is causative or merely an effect, possibly maladaptive.