Journal of pain & palliative care pharmacotherapy
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The purpose and activities of the Pain & Policy Studies Group (PPSG) at the University of Wisconsin are discussed, especially in its role as the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Policy and Communications in Cancer Care. Issues relating to the need for balanced opioid policy, the International Narcotics Control Board, opioid availability, overly restrictive national laws and regulations, and specific examples of improvements that have resulted from work of the PPSG are described.
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J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother · Jan 2006
ReviewDexmedetomidine: a novel analgesic with palliative medicine potential.
Dexmedetomidine has gained popularity in anesthesia and critical care for use in deep sedation and analgesia due to a combination of its efficacy and safety compared with other available agents (e.g., opioids, benzodiazepines, propofol) conventionally used in these settings. This brief review is meant to introduce this unique agent to the palliative care field, as dexmedetomidine may hold promise for patients in hospice and palliative care settings whose symptoms are refractory to usual therapies. [Be sure to be clear in the abstract that more studies are warranted and its role is not well defined and is complicated by significant drug interactions, invasive i.v. route and has a significant side effect profile.]
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J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother · Jan 2006
Review Case ReportsIntranasal sphenopalatine ganglion block: minimally invasive pharmacotherapy for refractory facial and headache pain.
Facial pain and headache of various etiologies are oftentimes unresponsive to conventional therapies. Transnasal sphenopalatine gangion block provides a safe, low-cost, therapy that, if effective, oftentimes can be self-administered for pain relief.