Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
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To evaluate currently approved analgesics, that is, opioids, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), anticonvulsants, and serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) used as analgesics, for 1) differences in pharmacokinetic parameters under fed vs fasting conditions and 2) factors involved in dosage recommendations in relation to food. ⋯ Overall, because food effects could alter the onset and/or duration of pain relief, analgesic medication should be used as per labeled recommendations for proper pain management.
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This study evaluates different parameters describing the gray matter structure to analyze differences between healthy controls, patients with episodic migraine, and patients with chronic migraine. ⋯ Migraine is associated with structural alterations in widespread gray matter regions of the brain. Moreover, the results suggest that the pattern of differences between healthy controls and episodic migraine patients is qualitatively different from that occurring between episodic and chronic migraine patients.
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The present study examined the effects of home-based remotely supervised transcranial direct current stimulation on quantitative sensory testing measurements in older adults with knee osteoarthritis. Participants were hypothesized to experience improved pain measurements over time. ⋯ The home-based, remotely supervised intervention improved quantitative measurements of pain in older adults with knee osteoarthritis. This study contributes to the growing body of literature supporting home-based noninvasive stimulation interventions.
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Descending pain modulation can be experimentally assessed by way of testing conditioned pain modulation. The application of tonic heat as a test stimulus in such paradigms offers the possibility of observing dynamic pain responses, such as adaptation and temporal summation of pain. Here we investigated conditioned pain modulation effects on tonic heat employing participant-controlled temperature, an alternative tonic heat pain assessment. Changes in pain perception are thereby represented by temperature adjustments performed by the participant, uncoupling this approach from direct pain ratings. Participant-controlled temperature has emerged as a reliable and sex-independent measure of tonic heat. ⋯ The measured interaction between conditioned pain modulation and temporal summation of pain supports the participant-controlled temperature approach as a promising method to explore dynamic inhibitory and facilitatory pain processes previously undetected by rating-based approaches.
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Observational Study
Risk of New Fractures in Vertebroplasty for Multiple Myeloma. A Retrospective Study.
Vertebroplasty is a percutaneous minimally invasive procedure indicated for vertebral collapse pain treatment. Among the known complications of the procedure is the augmented risk of new vertebral fractures. There are no specific studies in this patient population describing the risk of new vertebral fractures after vertebroplasty. This study analyzed risk factors associated with new vertebral fractures after vertebroplasty in patients with multiple myeloma. ⋯ Pedicle involvement, disc leakage, cement volume, thoracolumbar and lumbar level, and number of treated vertebrae by intervention are important risk factors when performing vertebroplasty. Prospective randomized studies are needed to evaluate these factors in this specific population.