Journal of pain & palliative care pharmacotherapy
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J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother · Jan 2002
The Cochrane Collaboration Pain, Palliative Care and Supportive Care Collaborative Review Group.
The Pain, Palliative and Supportive care group is one of 50 collaborative review groups that make up the Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization with the task of preparing, maintaining and disseminating systematic reviews of the effects of healthcare. Cochrane reviews are published cumulatively four times a year on the Cochrane library (CD-ROM and Web-based), along with other useful material such as a register of some 300,000 randomized controlled trials. The group has identified some 20,000 randomized trials in pain and 1,200 in palliative care. ⋯ The Pain, Palliative and Supportive care group is an informal international team involving some 100 people from some 18 countries. The group has published 26 protocols and 17 full reviews with a further 50 reviews in progress. The task is huge and there is scope for further volunteers to help with the various tasks of writing reviews, peer reviewing and literature searching.
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J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother · Jan 2002
Clinical TrialSelf-treatment with oral transmucosal fentanyl citrate to prevent emergency room visits for pain crises: patient self-reports of efficacy and utility.
Ninety (90) patients with chronic pain who were treated with a long-acting opioid were instructed on use of oral transmucosal fentanyl citrate (OTFC) for self-treatment of emergency pain flares. Eighty-six (95.6%) believed OTFC was effective and safe for self-treatment of emergency pain flares, and 71 (78.8%) believed they had prevented one or more emergency room visits for treatment of pain flares. A subgroup of 45 patients who had collectively used OTFC for 375 months, based on their past experience, estimated they had prevented 1.26 emergency room visits per month per patient. OTFC should be further studied for cost-savings and effectiveness in self-treatment of emergency pain flares.
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J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother · Jan 2002
Case ReportsPain relief from baclofen analgesia in a neuropathic pain patient who failed opioid and pharmacotherapy: case report.
A case report and discussion of a 64-year-old white female who presented with uncontrolled pain in several body areas despite massive oral controlled release morphine use is presented. Her pain was not associated with much spasticity. This patient responded remarkably to intrathecal baclofen even after the opioid was tapered and discontinued. The potential usefulness of baclofen in seemingly opioid-resistant chronic pain is discussed.
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J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother · Jan 2002
The polarized debate over complementary and alternative medicine.
Debate about the place and scientific of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has increased markedly in 2002 following the release of the report of the White House Commission on Alternative and Complementary Medicine Policy. Arguments for and against the integration of CAM into mainstream medicine that have been made are discussed. Positions taken by organizations opposed to CAM are described as are arguments to study the place of CAM further.
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J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother · Jan 2002
Extemporaneous compounding: a return to regulatory limbo?
Extemporaneous compounding of medications has been an integral component of the practice of pharmacy and medicine since the practices began. A staple of early medical and pharmacy practice, even today many patients benefit from compounding at some point in their care. ⋯ With a recent decision by the US Supreme Court, compounding regulation is again uncertain. This commentary reviews compounding practice, the history of compounding regulation, and discusses the current regulatory status of the practice.