Der Schmerz
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This systematic literature review was conducted to analyze the costs of postoperative patient controlled analgesia (PCA) in Germany. ⋯ A critical examination of benefits and costs of therapeutic options in hospitals has become necessary with the implementation of the German DRG compensation system. This has created a substantial need for the optimization of resources and processes. There is an enormous demand for research on the costs for PCA in Germany. The identification of cost-driving factors is necessary to determine saving potentials and thereby develop new technologies for postoperative analgesia.
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There are few studies on minimally invasive injection therapy (MIT) combined with multimodal conservative therapeutic options. Here, we evaluate the results of MIT in a clinical study. ⋯ MIT is an effective approach with few complications for the treatment of patients with radicular syndromes.
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Measurement of the pressure pain threshold and suprathreshold pressure pain sensitivity using a newly developed computer controlled algometer was compared to established methods in this pilot study. ⋯ For clinical use, the algometers investigated deliver comparable results. For studies requiring high precision with low levels of stimulation the use of the Algoforce PA3 could be considered.
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Review Historical Article
[Milk of paradise? Opium and opiates in nineteenth and twentieth century literature].
One cannot have an idea of this multifaceted theme without its medical and cultural-historical background. After a history of several thousand years as a remedy and consumer good, around 1800 this poppy drug was in the focus of public attention due to Brownianism, at first as an often self-prescribed unspecific remedy against physical and mental pain. ⋯ However, it was the publication of Thomas de Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (1821/1822) which made it a subject of international debate in accordance with the programmatic statements of writers of that epoque and corresponding to the antibourgeois attitude of these men. It became a motif of a counter-world experience and a subject and cause of lyric-subjective reflection as well as a possible premise of poetic creativity.