Der Schmerz
-
A study was conduced in 100 migraine patients and 100 control subjects who did not suffer from headaches to test Dung's hypothesis that the number of painful spinal processes in the throacic spine can be used as a quantitative measure of the degree of pain in the patient concerned. The results show significant differences in the frequency of painful spinal processes between the two study groups. This supports Dung's hypotheses. As it is easy to determine the presence of painful spinal processes the frequency of this phenomenon, the reasons for it and its significance should be the sujbects of further examination.
-
In the Federal Republic of Germany the medical and therapeutic methods available for combatting the most severely painful states are not always fully exploited. The medical legislation currently being developed gradually gives the treatment of pain the importance it deserves according to patients' needs. The legal position to be borne in mind in pain therapy is presented.
-
The oral administration of strong opioids like morphine is a very effective treatment in cancer pain. However, these analgesics are rarely prescribed for patients suffering from severe "non-malignant" pain. We examined the effects of oral opioids (morphine sulphate tablets, buprenorphine and levomethadone) given to patients with intractable rheumatic pain, which were refractory to other therapeutic measures. ⋯ No drug abuse, dependence or tolerance were observed. Strong opioids are not analgesics of first choice in patients with rheumatic disease, but an opioid medication should be considered-as well as in patients with intractable pain caused by another disease-when alternative therapeutic measures have failed. The principles of opioid medication in rheumatic pain are similar to those in patients with cancer pain.