Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain
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The development and implementation of a pharmacist-led patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) dosing service in a large academic institution are described. ⋯ After implementation of the pharmacist-led PCA dosing service, pharmacists at our institution provide PCA pain management services as part of our pharmacy department's standard practice.
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Previous pilot studies suggest the presence of heterogeneous sensitivity to pressure in primary headaches without considering the frequency of headache episodes. ⋯ This study confirmed an anterior-to-posterior gradient of sensitivity to pressure in both groups, with the highest sensitivity at the anterior part of the muscle. Further, we found similar pressure pain sensitivity in the trigeminal area in people with FETTH or CTTH with no association with depressive or anxiety levels.
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Prescription opioid pain reliever (OPR) misuse and diversion is an important and growing public health problem in the United States that is responsible for significant morbidity and mortality. Emergency physicians are among the top prescribers of OPRs, yet the relative contribution of emergency department (ED) OPR prescriptions to the overall opioid abuse epidemic remains unclear. ⋯ Among patients who suffer an OPR-related death, approximately 1.8% of the OPR pills given to the decedents will have come from the ED. In addition to the need for more research, the existing literature suggests an urgent need for interventions in the ED to reduce OPR misuse and diversion.
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Evaluating the clinical efficacy of acupuncture analgesia with systematic reviews (SRs) has attracted wide interest. ⋯ The quantity and the quality of SRs regarding acupuncture analgesia have been promoted in recent years. More effort should be expended on the assessment of publication bias, the provision of detailed information about the protocol and the registration process, and the implementation of additional analyses to improve the validity of the SRs.