Pain research and treatment
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Objectives. The aim of this study was to explore effect of a combination of pregabalin and dexamethasone on pain control after septoplasty operations. Methods. ⋯ Conclusions. We conclude that administration of 300 mg pregabalin preoperatively may be an adequate choice for pain control after septoplasty. Addition of dexamethasone does not significantly reduce pain in these patients.
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Objectives. Beliefs held by healthcare providers are part of the complex recovery of a patient with low-back pain (LBP). The aim of this study was to investigate the attitudes and beliefs of Irish university healthcare students towards LBP. ⋯ Conclusions. Physiotherapy students had more positive beliefs towards LBP than medical and nursing students. Physiotherapy and medical students' beliefs towards LBP significantly improved over the course of their studies.
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Introduction. Pain is the commonest morbidity after open surgical procedures. The most effective treatment of postoperative pain is opioid therapy. ⋯ Conclusion. Nalbuphine provides less effective intraoperative analgesia than morphine in patients undergoing open gynaecological surgery under general anaesthesia. Both drugs, however, provided similar postoperative analgesia and had similar haemodynamic and side effect profile.
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Background. Elderly patients have unique age-related comorbidities that may lead to an increase in postoperative complications involving neurological, pulmonary, cardiac, and endocrine systems. There has been an increase in the number of elderly patients undergoing surgery as this portion of the population is increasing in numbers. ⋯ Regional anesthesia as part of multimodal perioperative treatment can often reduce postoperative neurological, pulmonary, cardiac, and endocrine complications. Regional anesthesia/analgesia has not been proven to improve long-term morbidity but does benefit immediate postoperative pain control. In addition, multimodal drug therapy utilizes a variety of nonopioid analgesic medications in order to minimize dosages and adverse effects from opioids while maximizing analgesic effect and benefit.
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Objective. Opioid therapy in patients with chronic noncancer pain must be preceded by evaluation of the risk of opioid misuse. The aim of this study was to evaluate the predictive validity of the Italian translation of the Pain Medication Questionnaire (PMQ) and of the Diagnosis Intractability Risk and Efficacy Score (DIRE) in chronic pain patients. ⋯ Also the DIRE demonstrated good predictive validity. Conclusions. The results obtained with specific tools are more reliable than the clinician's evaluation alone in predicting the risk of opioid misuse; regular monitoring and psychological intervention will contribute to improving compliance and outcome of long-term opioid use.