European journal of pain : EJP
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Review Historical Article
Acetaminophen/paracetamol: A history of errors, failures and false decisions.
Acetaminophen/paracetamol is the most widely used drug of the world. At the same time, it is probably one of the most dangerous compounds in medical use, causing hundreds of deaths in all industrialized countries due to acute liver failure (ALF). Publications of the last 130 years found in the usual databases were analyzed. ⋯ Further information is found in earlier reviews by Eichengrün, Rodnan and Benedek, Sneader, Brune; comp. references. The history of the discovery of paracetamol starts with an error (active against worms), continues with a false assumption (paracetamol is safer than phenacetin), describes the first side-effect 'epidemy' (phenacetin nephropathy, drug-induced interstitial nephritis) and ends with the discovery of second-generation problems due to the unavoidable production of a highly toxic metabolite of paracetamol N-acetyl-p-benzoquinone imine (NAPQI) that may cause not only ALF and kidney damage but also impaired development of the fetus and the newborn child. It appears timely to reassess the risk/benefit ratio of this compound.
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This work summarizes the efficiency, failures and adverse effects of oral administration of ketamine at home for intractable pain. ⋯ Pain was reduced or abolished in two-thirds of patients under ketamine therapy; ketamine was effective for patients taking opioids and resulted in few adverse effects.
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Alberta Breakthrough Pain Assessment Tool: A validation multicentre study in cancer patients with breakthrough pain.
Cancer-related breakthrough pain (BTP) is a common and quite challenging pain syndrome, with significant impact on quality of life. To date, no widely recognized and validated tool for the diagnosis and evaluation of BTP exists. The Alberta Breakthrough Pain Assessment Tool (ABPAT) underwent a validation process during its development, but no experience of its implementation in clinical practice has been reported. ⋯ In this study, ABPAT resulted to be a well-accepted tool for BTP assessment and characterization in a relatively large cohort of cancer patients. It is effective in discovering the unmet needs of cancer patients and in exploring the outcomes of BTP treatment.
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Neuropathic pain is a common complication of treatment with the anti-neoplastic drug paclitaxel. Animal studies suggest neuroinflammation and transient receptor potential channels TRPA1 and TRPV4 are involved in the pathogenesis of pain in this condition. However, how neuroinflammation and TRPA1 and TRPV4 are linked to cause pain in paclitaxel-treated animals is not known. ⋯ These results suggest that paclitaxel activation of TLR-4 to cause release of TNF-α from satellite glial cells increases the expression of TRPA1 and TRPV4 in DRG neurons to cause neuropathic pain.