European journal of pain : EJP
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Pectoral Nerves Block (PECS) and Serratus Plane Block (SPB) have been used to treat persistent post-surgical pain after breast and thoracic surgery; however, they cannot block the internal mammary region, so a residual pain may occur in that region. Parasternal block (PSB) and Thoracic Transversus Plane Block (TTP) anaesthetize the anterior branches of T2-6 intercostal nerves thus they can provide analgesia to the internal mammary region. ⋯ The use of Transversus Thoracic Plane and Parasternal Blocks and fascial planes hydrodissection as a novel therapeutic approach to treat a residual post thoracotomy pain syndrome even when already treated with Pectoral Nerves Block and Serratus Plane Block.
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Observational Study
The predictive value of the heart rate variability-derived Analgesia Nociception Index in children anaesthetized with sevoflurane: An observational pilot study.
The heart rate variability (HRV)-derived Analgesia Nociception Index (ANI™) is a continuous noninvasive tool to assess the nociception/antinociception balance in unconscious patients. It has been shown to be superior to haemodynamic variables in detecting insufficient antinociception in children, while little is known about its predictive value. ⋯ In paediatric surgical patients anaesthetized with sevoflurane, the heart rate variability-derived Analgesia Nociception Index (ANI) appears to be a better predictor of insufficient antinociception than heart rate. The ANI also appears to depict re-establishment of sufficient antinociception better than heart rate.
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Epidemiological studies of chronic pain frequently report high prevalence estimates. However, there is little information about the development and natural course of chronic pain. ⋯ The development and recovery of chronic pain is highly dependent on previous pain. The prognosis of chronic pain may be predicted well when considering its duration in combination with other clinical, social and psychological factors. Targeting modifiable prognostic factors may be particularly important for newly developed chronic pain.
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Generic self-management programs aim to facilitate behavioural adjustment and therefore have considerable potential for patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Our main objective was to collect and synthesize all data on the effectiveness of generic self-management interventions for patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain in terms of physical function, self-efficacy, pain intensity and physical activity. Our secondary objective was to describe the content of these interventions, by means of classification according to the Behaviour Change Technique Taxonomy. ⋯ All other comparisons did not indicate an effect. Classification of the behaviour change techniques showed large heterogeneity across studies. These results indicate that generic self-management interventions have a marginal benefit for patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain in the short-term for physical function and pain intensity and for self-efficacy in the long-term, and vary considerably with respect to intervention content.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Electrical stimulation for evoking offset analgesia: A human volunteer methodological study.
Offset analgesia (OA) is a disproportionally large decrease in the pain perception in response to a small decrease in the stimulation intensity. Traditionally, heat stimulation has been used to evoke OA. The aim of this study was to investigate whether OA could be evoked by electrical stimulation. ⋯ Electrical stimulation can elicit offset analgesia in humans, indicating that this perceptual modification can be obtained even bypassing peripheral receptors.