The Clinical journal of pain
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Isolated proximal-without-distal (buttock but not calf) exercise-related lower-limb ischemia (IPI) might develop in the presence of arterial lesions impairing the blood flow supply toward the hypogastric vascular bed. In IPI, lower-limb sensory nerve dysfunction might occur from the sacral nerve plexus becoming ischemic during exercise. The purpose of this study was to compare patients with IPI with healthy controls for the presence of sensory nerve dysfunction, as assessed using somatosensory testing (SST). ⋯ The SST data suggest that patients with IPI have abnormal functioning of Aβ-fiber and C-fiber inputs in their affected limb(s). These sensory abnormalities might contribute to the exercise-induced ischemic symptoms experienced by these patients.
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Review Meta Analysis
Transcranial direct current stimulation for the reduction of clinical and experimentally induced pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
To evaluate the effectiveness of transcranial direct current stimulation on clinical and experimental pain, and to identify the most beneficial stimulation parameters. ⋯ The level of evidence for the efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation in experimental and chronic pain reduction is low. Evidence from high quality randomized controlled trials is required before this treatment should be recommended.
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The Minimum Clinical Important Difference (MCID) was initially intended to provide outcome measures that would be more clinically meaningful than measurements based simply on mean improvement in some outcomes. Indeed, a basic concept behind the MCID was that statistically significant differences in measures did not necessarily reflect clinically meaningful benefits. ⋯ A call is made for a more comprehensive approach to synthesize a nearly decade's worth of clinical research that has still not yielded consensus concerning the best MCID approach to objectively document lumbar spine fusion patients' outcomes.
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Multicenter Study
A multi-institutional study analyzing effect of prophylactic medication for prevention of opioid-induced gastrointestinal dysfunction.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of prophylactic treatment with laxatives and antiemetics on the incidence of gastrointestinal adverse reactions such as constipation, nausea and vomiting in cancer patients who received oral opioid analgesics for the first time. ⋯ We showed evidence for the effectiveness of premedication with laxatives for prevention of opioid-induced constipation. However, premedication with dopamine D2 blockers was not sufficient to prevent nausea or vomiting.
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Comparative Study
Pain-related insomnia versus primary insomnia: a comparison study of sleep pattern, psychological characteristics, and cognitive-behavioral processes.
Recent applications of cognitive-behavior therapy for primary insomnia in the management of pain-related insomnia are based on the implicit assumption that the 2 types of insomnia share the same presentation and maintaining mechanisms. The objectives of this study were to compare the characteristics of patients who have pain-related insomnia with those reporting primary insomnia and to identify psychological factors that predict pain-related insomnia. ⋯ There are more similarities than differences between the 2 types of insomnia. Besides pain, mood, and presleep, thought processes also seem to have a role in the manifestation of pain-related insomnia. It is suggested that hybrid treatments that seek to simultaneously address factors across these domains may represent more effective treatments than 1-dimensional interventions.