Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain
-
Palliative medicine is a young specialty that is officially recognized in relatively few countries. The World Health Organization published an adapted definition in 2002, describing palliative care as an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problems associated with life-threatening illness. When the accent is shifting from curative to palliative, the goal of management is the maintenance or improvement of the patient's quality of life. ⋯ Considering the complexity of care for incurable patients, a multidisciplinary approach is a prerequisite to balance curative and palliative intervention options. Optimal functioning of a team requires excellent training, communication and a description of the tasks and responsibilities of each team member. More and more advanced care planning is introduced in palliative care, focusing on an early identification of patients in a palliative trajectory and on the prevention of annoying symptoms, hoping that this approach results in an improved quality of life for the individual patient, less useless technical investigations and a better end-of-life care on the place the patient and his family desires.
-
The treatment for pain in emergency medicine is a matter of increasing interest. Available data indicate that in both normal conditions and during major-emergencies, the majority of healthcare providers are culturally and professionally unprepared to adequately treat acute pain conditions. In case of natural disasters, opioid drugs are often unavailable. ⋯ Pain inadequately treated may modify the characteristics of the pain itself. Pain is no longer considered just a symptom, but itself becomes an autonomous pathology heavily influencing the social life and psycho-social aspects of a person. In the disastrous situation following an earthquake, an inadequate treatment of pain was the major violation of the psycho-physical integrity of individuals and a severe violation of their rights, as human beings and patients.
-
Case Reports Observational Study
Directional preference following epidural steroid injection in three patients with acute cervical radiculopathy.
Cervical radiculopathy is typically characterized by neurologic symptoms that are traced to disturbances of discrete spinal nerve root(s) due to inflammatory or mechanical etiologies. Here we present three patients diagnosed with cervical radiculopathy, whose directional preference only surfaced after either a cervical transforaminal or intralaminar nerve root epidural steroid injection. This retrospective observational case series describes three men who presented with cervical radiculopathy with 7-9/10 neck pain, neck disability index (NDI) ranging between 44% and 90%, and an irreducible derangement upon McKenzie mechanical diagnosis and therapy (MMDT) evaluation. ⋯ They were all discharged with stable 0-3/10 pain severity after four physical therapy sessions and NDI scores of 0%. These cases suggest an interplay between inflammatory and mechanical contributors to spine-mediated pain and the treatment challenge this presents. Dissecting the components of spine pain can be challenging; however, delivery of skilled multidisciplinary care in an algorithmic fashion may be beneficial and provide the future framework for the management of cervical radiculopathy and other spine-related conditions.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
A randomized, controlled trial of gabapentin enacarbil in subjects with neuropathic pain associated with diabetic peripheral neuropathy.
Gabapentin enacarbil (GEn), a transported prodrug of gabapentin, provides sustained, dose-proportional gabapentin exposure. The purpose of this study was to investigate the dose response of GEn to select the optimal dose(s) for clinical use in subsequent diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) trials. ⋯ Overall, none of the GEn treatment groups differentiated from placebo. Analyses of the secondary endpoints showed comparable results across treatment groups. However, the majority of the endpoints, including all of the pain endpoints, showed the largest numerical treatment difference was between GEn 3,600 mg and placebo. The active control, PGB (300 mg/day), did not differentiate from placebo.
-
Review Comparative Study
Diagnosing neuropathic pain in patients with cancer: comparative analysis of recommendations in national guidelines from European countries.
Neuropathic pain is a prevalent symptom in patients with cancer, which needs a more specific algorithm than nociceptive pain or neuropathic pain from other origin. Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) can be helpful in optimizing the diagnosis of neuropathic pain in patients with cancer. ⋯ This work demonstrates an important heterogeneity between European recommendations on diagnosis and assessment of neuropathic pain in patients with cancer. The main weaknesses are the low level of evidence and the absence of specific data focusing on neuropathic pain in patients with cancer. We recommend that physicians dealing with neuropathic pain in patients with cancer should be specially trained, that a specific methodology to develop CPGs should followed, and that specific research should be developed on the diagnosis of neuropathic pain in patients with cancer.