European journal of pain : EJP
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In order to decide between avoiding pain or pursuing competing rewards, pain must be assigned an abstract value that can be traded against that of competing goods. To assess the relationship between subjectively perceived pain and its value, we conducted an experiment where participants had to accept or decline different intensities of painful electric shocks in exchange of monetary rewards. ⋯ This work provides a description of the pain value function indicating how much people are willing to pay to avoid different intensities of pain. We found that the function was curvilinear, suggesting that the same unit of subjective pain has more value in the high vs. low pain range. Moreover, the pain value was influenced by the experimental manipulation of the rewards distribution and of the inter-individual differences in harm avoidance and persistence. Altogether, the present study provides a detailed account of how subjectively experienced pain is assigned value.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
A Virtual Reality System for Pain and Anxiety Management during Outpatient Hysteroscopy- A Randomized-Control Trial.
Visual and acoustic virtual reality (VR) has been increasingly explored as a non-pharmacological tool for pain relief in clinical settings. ⋯ The use of a Virtual reality system was found ineffective in reducing pain during and after an office operative hysteroscopy without anaesthesia, in a thorough examination of both continuous physiological parameters and women's self-reported measures.
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The low quality of included trials, insufficient rigour in review methodology, ignorance of key pain issues, small size, and over-optimistic judgements about the direction and magnitude of treatment effects all devalue systematic reviews, supposedly the 'gold standard' of evidence. Available evidence indicates that almost all systematic reviews in the published literature contain fatal flaws likely to make their conclusions incorrect and misleading. ⋯ We argue that results of most systematic reviews should be dismissed. Forensically critical systematic reviews are essential tools to improve the quality of trials and should be encouraged and protected.
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Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is an orphan disease occurring as a complication after trauma. Due to its acute onset and the typical clinical presentation of the inflammatory and autonomous signs, it is an eye-catching chronic pain disease affecting also young and working people. In social media and the internet, high pain severity and the unfavourable prognosis are often empathized. ⋯ This study compares complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and chronic musculoskeletal pain and questions previously reported pain, disability and lifestyle factors associated with CRPS.