Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
-
Dry needling is commonly used for the management of plantar fasciitis. This meta-analysis evaluated the effects of dry needling over trigger points associated with plantar heel pain on pain intensity and related disability or function. ⋯ Moderate- to low-quality evidence suggests a positive effect of trigger point dry needling for improving pain intensity and pain-related disability in the short term and long term, respectively, in patients with plantar heel pain of musculoskeletal origin. The present results should be considered with caution because of the small number of trials.
-
1) To describe a simplified multidisciplinary grading system for the most clinically relevant lumbar spine degenerative changes. 2) To measure the inter-reader variability among non-radiologist spine experts in their use of the classification system for interpretation of a consecutive series of lumbar spine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations. ⋯ A simplified universal grading system of lumbar spine MRI degenerative findings is newly described. Use of this multidisciplinary grading system in the assessment of clinically relevant degenerative changes revealed moderate to substantial agreement among non-radiologist spine physicians. This standardized grading system could serve as a foundation for interdisciplinary communication.
-
To evaluate the dose trajectory of new opioid tapers and estimate the percentage of patients with sustained tapers at long-term follow-up. ⋯ In an insured and Medicare Advantage population, over two-thirds of patients who initiated opioid dose tapering sustained long-term dose reductions, and the likelihood of sustaining tapers increased substantially from 2008 to 2018.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
Multifocal Pain as a Predictor of Pain Outcomes in Military Veterans with Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: A Secondary Data Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial.
We aimed to examine 1) the relationship between multifocal pain and clinical characteristics, including demographics, pain outcomes, somatic symptoms, health-related quality of life, depression, and anxiety, and 2) whether multifocal pain was independently associated with treatment response. ⋯ Multifocal pain predicted worse pain outcomes between baseline and 9 months in veterans enrolled in a trial for treating chronic musculoskeletal pain.