Journal of pain research
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Journal of pain research · Jan 2013
Opioid rotation in patients initiated on oxycodone or morphine: a register study.
Strong opioids are recommended for the treatment of moderate to severe pain. However, some patients do not achieve a successful treatment outcome due to intolerable adverse events and/or inadequate analgesia, thus may benefit from switching to another opioid, a procedure known as "opioid rotation." The type of opioid at treatment initiation may influence the risk of opioid rotation and the objective of this study was to assess such rotation after treatment initiation with two alternative treatments, controlled-release (CR) oxycodone versus CR morphine in patients suffering from non-cancer pain. ⋯ Patients with non-cancer pain who initiated treatment with CR morphine had a higher risk of opioid rotation than patients initiated with CR oxycodone.
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Journal of pain research · Jan 2013
Treatment of chronic regional pain syndrome type 1 with palmitoylethanolamide and topical ketamine cream: modulation of nonneuronal cells.
Chronic regional pain syndrome (CRPS) can be intractable to treat and patients sometimes suffer for many years. Therefore, new treatment strategies are needed to alleviate symptoms in CRPS patients. This case report describes a patient suffering from intractable CRPS type 1 for 13 years. ⋯ The combination of palmitoylethanolamide and ketamine 10% cream reduced her pain by more than 50% after 1 month of treatment, and a marked reduction in swelling and skin discoloration was noticed. Furthermore, she could walk independently again and she experienced no side effects. Thus, palmitoylethanolamide and topical ketamine could be a combination therapy option for treating CRPS patients.
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Journal of pain research · Jan 2013
Gabapentin reverses central pain sensitization following a collagenase-induced intrathalamic hemorrhage in rats.
The treatment of central neuropathic pain remains amongst the biggest challenges for pain specialists. The main objective of this study was to assess gabapentin (GBP), amitriptyline (AMI), and carbamazepine (CARBA) for the treatment of a rodent central neuropathic pain model. ⋯ Intrathalamic hemorrhaging in the ventrolateral thalamic nucleus induced a bilateral mechanical allodynia, which was reversed by GBP but not AMI or CARBA.
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Low back pain in patients with myofascial pain syndrome is characterized by painful active myofascial trigger points (ATPs) in muscles. This article reviews a novel, noninvasive modality that combines simultaneous imaging and treatment, thus taking advantage of the electrodermal information available from imaged ATPs to deliver localized neurostimulation, to stimulate peripheral nerve endings (Aδ fibers) and in turn, to release endogenous endorphins. "Hyperstimulation analgesia" with localized, intense, low-rate electrical pulses applied to painful ATPs was found to be effective in 95% patients with chronic nonspecific low back pain, in a clinical validation study.