Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
A Multicenter, Prospective, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blind Study of a Novel Pain Management Device, AT-02, in Patients with Fibromyalgia.
Existing treatments for fibromyalgia have limited efficacy, and only a minority of individuals clinically respond to any single intervention. This study was a prospective, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical trial to evaluate the feasibility of alternating magnetic field therapy in fibromyalgia patients by comparing the Angel Touch device (AT-02) with a sham control (S-01). ⋯ The reduction in NRS scores for AT-02 relative to sham was comparable to reductions observed in meta-analyses of fibromyalgia drug therapy. The unadjusted results and the persistence of the pain score reductions remain encouraging.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Acceptability and Effects of Commercially Available Activity Trackers for Chronic Pain Management Among Older African American Adults.
Wearable activity trackers may facilitate walking for chronic pain management. ⋯ With appropriate support, wearable activity trackers and mHealth reporting for chronic pain self-care are feasible for use by vulnerable older adults. Future research should test whether the effects of trackers on pain-related outcomes can be enhanced by incorporating behavior change strategies and training in evidence-based cognitive-behavioral techniques.
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Stress and pain have been interrelated in clinical widespread pain conditions. Studies indicate that acute experimental stress in healthy volunteers has a negative effect on the descending inhibitory pain control system and thus the ability to inhibit one painful stimulus with another (conditioned pain modulation [CPM]) although without effect on general pain sensitivity. CPM effects can be assessed immediately after the stress induction, whereas some physiological stress responses (e.g., cortisol release) are delayed and longer lasting. It is unclear whether CPM may relate to stress-induced increases in cortisol. ⋯ No significant effect of stress was found on CPM compared with a matched control condition. Individual changes in experimental stress and in conditioned pain sensitivity may be linked with cortisol.
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Increased opioid prescription to relieve pain among patients with chronic pain is associated with increased risk for misuse, potentially leading to substance use disorders and overdose death. We aimed to characterize the relative importance and identify the most significant of several potential risk factors for the severity of self-reported prescribed opioid misuse behaviors. ⋯ Findings suggest that anxiety, anger, and depression are key factors associated with prescribed opioid misuse tendencies in patients with chronic pain and that they are potential targets for therapeutic intervention.