The Clinical journal of pain
-
The purposes of the study were threefold: (a) to determine whether a measurement system based on facial expression would be useful in the assessment of post-operative pain in young children; (b) to examine construct validity in terms of structure, consistency, and dynamics of the facial display; and (c) to evaluate concurrent validity in terms of associations with global judgments of the children's pain. ⋯ The present study demonstrated that the CFCS serves as a valid measurement tool for persistent pain in children.
-
Considerable research suggests that females exhibit greater sensitivity to laboratory pain procedures than do males; however, whether the presence of acute clinical pain influences this sex difference in pain sensitivity has not been investigated. The present experiment investigated the effects of sex and acute dental pain on laboratory pain responses. ⋯ These data suggest that the sex difference in thermal pain sensitivity frequently reported in pain-free subjects appears to be absent in patients presenting with acute dental pain. However, this effect cannot be explained solely based on the presence of clinical pain because the effect on pain threshold and tolerance persisted into session 2, when pulpitis patients were pain free. Potential explanations for these results are discussed.
-
The purpose of this study was to determine whether pain location indicated in pain drawings was related to the specific lumbar disc level(s) that was abnormal in appearance and painful upon discographic injection. ⋯ The results of this study indicate that pain drawings may be helpful in identifying which specific discs are associated with pain complaints. As with any evaluation, the drawings should be considered in combination with findings from other assessments.
-
The purpose of this study was to examine the dimensions of coping, measured by the subscales of the new revised Coping Strategies Questionnaire (CSQ-R) using factor analysis, and to perform cluster analysis on these factors to explore the existence of distinct subgroups. No published studies have identifed subgroups of chronic pain patients based on the use of CSQ coping strategies. ⋯ This paper is the first to report empirically derived subgroups from scores on the CSQ or CSQ-R. In addition, the three clusters were significantly different across measures of pain, psychological distress, and levels of physical functioning, demonstrating validity for the clusters.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Nerve root sleeve injections in patients with failed back surgery syndrome: a comparison of three solutions.
To evaluate outcome in patients with failed back surgery syndrome treated with nerve root sleeve injections. ⋯ Overall, although injections induced analgesia at 1 month, these effects were reduced at 3- and 6-month follow-ups. No statistical differences were found between the three treatment groups (after 1 month, p = 0.71; after 3 months, p = 0.69; after 6 months, p = 0.66. The Friedman test showed a significant decrease in treatment score as a function of time in groups B and C (p = 0.015) but not in group A (p = 0.074). Corticosteroids seem responsible for the last phenomenon.