European journal of pain : EJP
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Intravenous ketoprofen as an adjunct to patient-controlled analgesia morphine in adolescents with thoracic surgery: a placebo controlled double-blinded study.
Surgery to correct pectus deformities entail substantial destruction of the thoracic skeleton and thus may cause significant postoperative pain. ⋯ Intravenous ketoprofen in adjunct to PCA morphine provided a significant opioid sparing effect and improved analgesia in children having chest wall correction surgery.
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Neuropathic (NP) pain is a debilitating chronic pain disorder considered by some to be inherently resistant to therapy with traditional analgesics. Indeed, micro opioid receptor (OR) agonists show reduced therapeutic benefit and their long term use is hindered by the high incidence of adverse effects. However, pharmacological and physiological evidence increasingly suggests a role for deltaOR agonists in modulating NP pain symptoms. ⋯ The effects of deltorphin II were mediated via activation of the deltaOR as the effect was antagonized by co-treatment with the delta-selective antagonist, naltrindole. Western blotting experiments revealed no changes in deltaOR protein in the dorsal spinal cord following CCI. Taken together, these data demonstrate the antihyperalgesic and antiallodynic effectiveness of a spinally administered deltaOR agonist following peripheral nerve injury and support further investigation of deltaORs as potential therapeutic targets in the treatment of NP pain.
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Complex regional pain syndromes (CRPS) are disabling pain syndromes that can develop after trauma or minor tissue injury affecting a limb. Characteristics of CRPS are sensory signs and symptoms, autonomic abnormalities, trophic changes and an impaired motor function. Pathophysiological mechanisms for the development of CRPS are still a matter of investigation. ⋯ Both in rats that underwent ischemia and in sham-operated rats no obvious changes of hindpaw tissue were observed after ischemia-reperfusion injury (trophic changes, edema, differences in skin color or temperature). In behavioral tests only minor changes were observed, these being not different between postischemic rats and sham-operated rats. Using Wistar rats, our data do not support the idea that an ischemia-reperfusion injury can play a major role in the development of CRPS.
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Comparative Study
Adherence of Irish general practitioners to European guidelines for acute low back pain: a prospective pilot study.
There are no national low back pain (LBP) clinical guidelines in Ireland, and neither the level of adherence of General Practitioners (GPs) to the European guidelines, nor the cost of LBP to the patient and the state, have been investigated. A prospective pilot study was conducted on 54 consenting patients (18M, 36F: mean age (SD): 40.5 (14.3) years) with a new episode of acute LBP (<3 months) attending one of nine participating GPs. Baseline demographic, LBP classification [i.e. simple back ache (SBA), nerve root pain (NRP), serious spinal pathology (SSP)] and primary care management data were recorded over a three month period. ⋯ The average total cost (direct and wage replacement) for a single episode of LBP over 12 weeks was 20,531 Euros (20,300-20,762). Direct costs accounted for 43% [8874.36 Euros, (8643.37-9105.37 Euros)] and wage replacement costs 57% (11,657 Euros). In conclusion, management of acute LBP in a cohort of GPs in Ireland was not consistent with European clinical guideline recommendations, and warrants higher levels of postgraduate education among GPs, as well as restructuring of primary care services, which should improve patient outcome and reduce costs.
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Anterior knee pain, diagnosed as Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS), is one of the most common musculoskeletal problems found in adolescents and young adults. There is no consensus in medical literature concerning the aetiology of the PFPS. ⋯ This study demonstrated an abnormal sensory function in the painful and non-painful knee in some individuals with long lasting unilateral Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome using Quantitative Sensory Testing supported by clinical neurological examinations. A dysfunction of the peripheral and/or the central nervous system may cause neuropathic pain in some subjects with PFPS.