European journal of pain : EJP
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Efficacy and safety of a single intrathecal methylprednisolone bolus in chronic complex regional pain syndrome.
Activated immune cells in the spinal cord may play an important role in the development and maintenance of neuropathic pain, such as occurs in response to peripheral inflammation or tissue injury. Immune activation may therefore serve as a therapeutic target for immune modulating drugs like corticosteroids. This double-blind randomized placebo-controlled parallel-group trial aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of a single intrathecal administration of 60 mg methylprednisolone (ITM) in chronic patients with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). ⋯ After 21 patients (10 on ITM) were included, the trial was stopped prematurely after the interim analysis had shown that ITM had no effect on pain (difference in mean pain intensity numeric rating scale at 6 weeks 0.3, 95% confidence interval -0.7 to 1.3) or any other outcome measure. We did not find any difference in treatment-emergent adverse events between the ITM and placebo group. We conclude that a single bolus administration of ITM is not efficacious in chronic CRPS patients, which may indicate that spinal immune activation does not play an important role in this phase of the syndrome.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effects of low-dose intranasal (S)-ketamine in patients with neuropathic pain.
NMDA receptors are involved in the development and maintenance of neuropathic pain. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of intranasal (S)-ketamine, one of the most potent clinically available NMDA receptor antagonists. ⋯ Intranasal administration of low dose (S)-ketamine rapidly induces adequate plasma concentrations of (S)-ketamine and subsequently of its metabolite (S)-norketamine. The time course of analgesia correlated with plasma concentrations.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
The role of current mood and stop rules on physical task performance: an experimental investigation in patients with work-related upper extremity pain.
Patients with work-related upper extremity pain (WRUED) experience disability in daily life activities. The factors that influence levels of disability are still unclear. Both excessive avoidance and persistence have been suggested, but the affective and motivational processes that underlie these behaviours have not been scrutinized. ⋯ Results showed that physical task performance was predicted by pain-related fear, current mood, stop rule. However, the predicted moodxstop rule interaction was not found, and there was no influence of gender, pain severity, and pain catastrophizing on task performance. The findings suggest that not only pain-related fear, but current mood and goal context factors independently affect physical performance in patients with WRUED.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Differential physiological effects during tonic painful hand immersion tests using hot and ice water.
The cold pressor test (CPT) is an empirically validated test commonly used in research on stress, pain and cardiovascular reactivity. Surprisingly, the equivalent test with water heated to noxious temperatures (hot water immersion test, HIT) has not been thoroughly investigated. The aim of the present study was to characterize the physiological effects and psychophysics of both tests and to analyze whether the autonomic responses are mainly induced by baroreflexes or a consequence of the pain experience itself. ⋯ Both tests were comparable with regard to the time course and intensity of subjective pain. However, a significantly higher increase of blood pressure could be observed during the CPT when compared to the HIT. The HIT appears less confounded with thermoregulatory baroreflex activity and therefore seems to be a more appropriate model for tonic pain.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Comparison of articaine and lidocaine for infiltration anaesthesia in patients undergoing bone marrow aspiration and biopsy.
Infiltration anaesthesia with articaine, a local anaesthetic able to penetrate bone, may relieve procedural pain better than lidocaine in bone marrow aspiration and biopsy. This randomised, double-blind study comprised 150 patients with suspected or known haematologic disease. Either articaine 20mg/ml (50 patients), articaine 40mg/ml (49 patients) or lidocaine 20mg/ml (51 patients), all with adrenaline 5mug/ml, was infiltrated in volume of 6ml (sternal manubrium), 8ml (sternal body) or 10ml (iliac crest) 2min before puncture. ⋯ No parameter differed significantly between the groups. In conclusion, the quality of infiltration anaesthesia for bone marrow punctures and aspiration with articaine and lidocaine was similarly poor. Several patients experienced strong pain which correlated with the degree of anxiety.