The Clinical journal of pain
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Early tissue injury and recurrent pain in sickle cell disease (SCD) may alter pain and sensory processing. In this study, we evaluate thermal pain and sensory processing for 27 children aged 10.3 to 18.3 years with SCD and 28 African-American control patients. ⋯ Three of ten quantitative sensory tests were found to differ between groups. These results suggest that SCD may influence pain and sensory processing in children, but our interpretation is necessarily cautious. Due to the small differences in measures found between groups, further investigation is required to confirm our findings. If confirmed, the development of population-specific reference standards for quantitative sensory testing may emerge as a useful clinical tool for pain physicians in identifying and quantifying pain and sensory processing in children with SCD.
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Pain catastrophizing has emerged as a significant risk factor for problematic recovery after musculoskeletal injury. As such, there has been an increased focus on interventions that target patients' levels of catastrophizing. However, it is not presently clear how clinicians might best interpret scores on catastrophizing before and after treatment. Thus, the purpose of this study was to provide preliminary guidelines for the clinical interpretation of scores on pain catastrophizing among individuals with subacute pain after musculoskeletal injury. ⋯ The results indicate scores on catastrophizing before and after treatment that are clinically meaningful. These results may serve as preliminary guidelines to assess the clinical significance of interventions targeting pain catastrophizing in patients with subacute pain after musculoskeletal injury.
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Comparative Study
Differences in Pain Management Between Hematologists and Hospitalists Caring for Patients With Sickle Cell Disease Hospitalized for Vasoocclusive Crisis.
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a chronic disease characterized by multiple vaso-occlusive complications and is increasingly cared for by hospitalists. The purpose of this study is to examine differences in pain management between hematologists and hospitalists. ⋯ We found patients cared for by hospitalists more frequently utilized home oral pain medication during admission, had shorter lengths of hospitalization, and did not have a significant increase in readmission rates.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
A Randomized-controlled Trial of Parent-led Tactile Stimulation to Reduce Pain During Infant Immunization Injections.
To determine the effectiveness of parent-led tactile stimulation for pain reduction when added to a combination of evidence-based pain-reducing interventions in infants undergoing immunization injections. ⋯ Parent-led tactile stimulation did not reduce pain in infants undergoing immunization injections when combined with other pain-relieving interventions. Potential reasons for the lack of effectiveness are discussed. Investigation of the effectiveness of clinician-led tactile stimulation in this population is recommended.
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Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is known to be an effective treatment for a range of neuropathic pain (NeP) conditions, although further clinical evidence is required. Clinical observations suggest that 1 aspect of the treatment effect is a reduction in the area with spontaneous NeP. The aim of this study was to quantify the areas of spontaneous NeP in SCS patients and to correlate these with changes in pain intensity and quality of life. ⋯ The results indicate that the main impact of SCS on the patients' quality of life is not the reduction of the painful areas, but rather the reduced pain intensity in the remaining area.