European journal of pain : EJP
-
The management of chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP) is complex. Concerns about adverse effects associated with opioid pain medications and a lack of funding for holistic programs present challenges for decision-making among clinicians and patients. Discrete choice experiments (DCE) are one way of assessing and valuing patient treatment preferences. ⋯ A discrete choice experiment identified two groups: younger, with more private insurance, and older, with less private health insurance, each with unique pain management preferences. Clinicians should be aware that age and private health insurance may have an impact on a patient's preferences for CNCP management.
-
Despite functional connectivity network dysfunction among individuals with headaches, no studies have examined functional connectivity neural correlates and anatomical differences in coping with headaches. ⋯ This study highlights the potential use of emerging behavioural biomarkers in headache management, such as pain acceptance, and their role in modifying the headache experience. Notably, grey matter reorganization in the cerebellum and other known brain pain networks, could indicate brain networks that can be modified from targeted behavioural interventions to help decode the nociplastic mechanisms that predominates in headaches.
-
Assessing pain in neonates is crucial for their management but is inherently subjective. This study investigated the effects of visual attention, gaze patterns, and empathic responses of neonatal healthcare professionals on their assessments of neonatal pain. ⋯ The study emphasises the importance of visual cues and empathy in neonatal pain assessment, highlighting the roles of healthcare professionals and stimulus presentation formats. It addresses challenges in understanding neonatal pain, advocating for standardised protocols. Using eye-tracking technology, the research explores how professionals' visual attention and empathy affect pain evaluations, suggesting more objective assessment methods.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
The effect of stretching intensity on pain sensitivity: A randomized crossover study on healthy adults.
Stretching exercises have effects on local and widespread pain sensitivity. A dose-response relationship may exist between the analgesic effect and the intensity of stretching, such that a higher intensity of stretching may generate a larger reduction in analgesic response, but this remains to be studied. This study aimed to examine the dose-response relationship between stretching intensity and the analgesic effect. ⋯ The study showed a significant acute hypoalgesic effect of stretching exercises regardless of stretching intensity. This may have appropriate clinical implications for patients with musculoskeletal and nociplastic pain.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
Ten Minutes of Core Stabilisation Exercise Result in Local Exercise-Induced Hypoalgesia in Patients With Chronic Unspecific Low Back Pain.
Core stabilisation training is known to be effective in managing pain in patients suffering from chronic low back pain (CLBP). Yet, acute effects of core stabilisation exercise on exercise-induced hypoalgesia (EIH) are largely unknown. This study aimed to examine the EIH effects of an easy-to-perform core stabilisation exercise in CLBP patients and to explore associations between EIH and potential influencing factors (i.e., physical activity, catastrophizing, kinesiophobia, subjective pain state and exercise exertion). ⋯ This study shows for the first time that a brief and easy-to-perform 10-min core stabilisation exercise produces significant local pain relief (EIH) in patients with unspecific CLBP. The effect is localised to the lumbar region, with no observed impact on remote sites. Higher pain catastrophizing seems to be linked to reduced hypoalgesic response. These findings support the use of short core stabilisation exercises as an effective, immediate, non-pharmacological pain management strategy for these patients.