Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
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To evaluate acceptability and clinical outcomes of acupuncture on patient-reported pain and anxiety in an emergency department (ED). ⋯ Results from this observational trial indicate that acupuncture was acceptable and effective for pain and anxiety reduction, in conjunction with standard medical care. These results will inform future randomized trials.
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Multicenter Study
A Multicenter Evaluation of Emergency Department Pain Care Across Different Types of Fractures.
To identify differences in emergency department (ED) pain-care based on the type of fracture sustained and to examine whether fracture type may influence the more aggressive analgesic use previously demonstrated in older patients. ⋯ Long bone fractures were associated with more aggressive pain care than SBF. When fracture types were examined separately, older patients did not appear to receive more aggressive pain care. This difference should be accounted for in further research.
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Multicenter Study
The Impact of Body Mass Index on Fluoroscopy Time During Lumbar Epidural Steroid Injection; A Multicenter Cohort Study.
This study aimed to assess the relationship between BMI and fluoroscopy time during lumbar epidural steroid injections (LESIs) performed for lumbosacral radicular pain. ⋯ The findings of this study indicate that fluoroscopy time is increased during interlaminar LESIs and during L5-S1 transforaminal LESIs in patients who are obese. These relationships are not affected by injection number, performance of bilateral injections, or trainee involvement. Further study is needed to determine if this increase in fluoroscopy time is indicative of a clinically significant associated increase in radiation dose.
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To investigate whether pain catastrophizing and personality traits bias recalled ratings of acute pain in an experimental tonic pain model. ⋯ This study demonstrated that memory for painful events in healthy subjects was reasonably accurate over a period of 1 week. Pain catastrophizing biased pain recall, whereas among personality traits only neuroticism exhibited a weak positive association with the recalled ratings.
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Opioid abuse is a serious public health concern. In response, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determined that a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) for extended-release and long-acting (ER/LA) opioids was necessary to ensure that the benefits of these analgesics continue to outweigh the risks. Key components of the REMS are training for prescribers through accredited continuing education (CE), and providing patient educational materials. ⋯ The results of these assessments indicate that the increasing rates of opioid abuse, addiction, overdose, and death observed prior to implementation of the REMS have since leveled off or started to decline. However, these benefits cannot be attributed solely to the ER/LA opioid analgesics REMS since many other initiatives to prevent abuse occurred contemporaneously. These improvements occurred while preserving patient access to opioids as a large majority of patients surveyed expressed satisfaction with their access to opioids.