Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain
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With rising prescription of opioid medications for chronic noncancer pain (CNCP) in the past years, opioid abuse and overdose deaths have increased in parallel. To ensure adequate treatment outcomes and reduce the risks linked with the chronic use of opioids, practitioner's adherence to treatment guidelines is essential. This study summarizes published recommendations about the strategies to reduce the risks associated with the chronic use of opioids and evaluates the adherence of physicians to these recommendations. ⋯ Substantial practice and knowledge gaps were identified, including the use of pain scales and prescription of transdermal fentanyl in opioid-naïve patients, which have important implications for patient's safety. Guidelines more practical to physicians' settings and further education of physicians are warranted.
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The role of personality in the experience of chronic pain is a growing field, with endless debate regarding the existence of a "pain personality". This study aims to compare different chronic pain types and consolidate the existence of a common personality. Thirty-two females with chronic orofacial pain and 37 age-matched healthy females were assessed with the Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised. ⋯ In conclusion, our study reveals that irrespective of type, chronic pain may be associated with Cluster C personality disorders. Indeed, there has never been empirical evidence in the past to suggest that chronic pain as an overall concept is associated with any particular personality disorders. Therefore, a potential future avenue of chronic pain treatment may lie in targeting particular personality aspects and shift the target of pain-relieving treatments from sensory and psychologically state focused to psychologically trait focused.
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Prosopagnosia is a rare dysfunction seen during the aura phase of migraine. We aimed to evaluate the face recognition, which has not previously been investigated in migraineurs during the interictal period, and its relationships with clinical features. ⋯ Migraineurs had poorer performance in both face recognition and visuospatial perception. These findings could be based on functional differences in the migraineurs' brain or genetic changes.
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Review
Neural Markers of Neuropathic Pain Associated with Maladaptive Plasticity in Spinal Cord Injury.
Given the potential use of neural markers for the development of novel treatments in spinal cord pain, we aimed to characterize the most effective neural markers of neuropathic pain following spinal cord injury (SCI). ⋯ When analyzed together, the results of these studies seem to point out to a common marker of pain in SCI characterized by decreased cortical activity in frontal areas and possibly increased subcortical activity. These results may contribute to planning further mechanistic studies as to better understand the mechanisms by which neuropathic pain is modulated in patients with SCI as well as clinical studies investigating best responders of treatment.
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Despite recent advances in the knowledge of pain mechanisms and pain management, postoperative pain continues to be a problem. Inadequately managed postsurgical pain has both clinical and economic consequences such as longer recovery times, delayed ambulation, higher incidence of complications, increased length of hospital stay, and potential to develop into chronic pain. Generally, opioids are the mainstay option for pain management in patients with moderate-to-severe postsurgical pain; however, opioids have significant side effects and have abuse potential. ⋯ Utilizing a multi-modal approach may result in a greater reduction in pain vs. single therapies in addition to minimizing opioid use, thus reducing opioid related side effects. However, not all approaches may be effective for all types of patients and not all analgesics may be a viable option for outpatient settings, ambulatory surgery, or the fast-track surgical procedures. In this report, we present a review of the literature with a focus on intranasal ketorolac in order to provide a timely update regarding past, present, and future multi-modal treatment options for postoperative pain.