European journal of pain : EJP
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Although the challenges of living with chronic pain are widely documented within existing literature, to our knowledge, the acceptability of pain for people living with persistent pain, has not been fully explored. The current study aims to explore what 'acceptable pain' means to adults living with chronic non-cancer pain (CPCP). ⋯ Adults with CNCP have unique experiences of living with and managing their chronic pain. CNCP was found to affect biological, psychological, and social aspects of an individual's life. The acceptability of pain exists on a continuum where adjacent parts are not noticeably different from each other, but the extremes of the continuum appear very distinct. The acceptability of pain is determined by the different factors that influence an individuals' ability to function on a day-to-day basis as well as their quality of life. While acceptable pain and manageable pain represent distinct aspects of the pain experience, the relationship between them is complex and plays a crucial role in how individuals cope with and adapt to chronic pain.
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Functional magnetic resonance imaging, in conjunction with models of peripheral and/or central sensitization, has been used to assess analgesic efficacy in healthy humans. This review aims to summarize the use of these techniques to characterize brain mechanisms of hyperalgesia/allodynia and to evaluate the efficacy of analgesics. ⋯ Experimental pain models that provide a surrogate for features of pathological pain conditions in healthy humans and functional imaging techniques are both highly valuable research tools. This review shows that when used together, they provide a wealth of information about brain activity during pain states and analgesia. These tools are promising candidates to help bridge the gap between animal and human studies, to improve translatability and provide opportunities for identification of new targets for back-translation to animal studies.
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There is little knowledge of what factors are needed for successful chronic pain management. We aim to identify psychosocial and treatment predictors of clinical recovery and improved quality of life (QOL) at 12-month follow-up across three chronic pain groups, based on the International Classification of Diseases-11: neuropathic pain, secondary non-neuropathic pain, and primary pain. Furthermore, we investigate baseline differences across diagnostic groups. ⋯ This observational study indicates a potential advantage in sustained recovery for pre-selected individuals with chronic pain who undergo invasive treatments. The relationship between sustained recovery and psychosocial factors differs across neuropathic, secondary non-neuropathic, and primary pain patients. This suggests that employing ICD-11 for classifying patients into mechanistically distinct pain groups could inform the evaluation and management of chronic pain. Furthermore, factors previously identified as negative indicators for long-term outcomes in chronic pain cohorts were not clinically significant in this study.
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Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a type of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, which has demonstrated positive outcomes in individuals with chronic pain. The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of an 8-week programme combining Exercise with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ExACT) with a standalone supervised exercise programme at 1-year follow-up. ⋯ Few previous randomized controlled trials investigating ACT for chronic pain have included long-term follow-up. This study found that Exercise combined with ACT was not superior to supervised exercise alone for reducing pain interference at 1-year follow-up. Further research is necessary to identify key processes of therapeutic change and to explore how interventions may be modified to enhance clinical outcomes for people with chronic pain.