Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain
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Comparative Study
Predictors of pain medication selection among patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia.
Several pharmacologic therapies have been recommended for managing fibromyalgia. However, the factors associated with each treatment initiation have not been well established. This study assessed factors that were associated with the use of duloxetine vs. other pain medications among patients with fibromyalgia. ⋯ The presence of select comorbidities and prior use of certain medications were associated with the duloxetine initiation among working-age, commercially insured patients with fibromyalgia.
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Among adrenal incidentalomas, pheochromocytomas are rare. Malignant pheochromocytoma is even less common, and it typically presents with classic hormonal symptoms, such as palpitations, labile blood pressures, and headaches. Bony metastasis usually occurs late in disease, but we report an unusual case of incapacitating bony pain as the initial presentation of malignant pheochromocytoma. ⋯ Further imaging and bone marrow biopsy confirmed metastatic neuroendocrine tumor. She received one round of chemotherapy with no change in her bony pain, which was her primary complaint. Unfortunately, her treatment options were limited by the heavy sedation required for comfort, and in the end, it was her bony pain rather than hormonal symptoms that made her disease untreatable.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Preoperative gabapentin for acute post-thoracotomy analgesia: a randomized, double-blinded, active placebo-controlled study.
The role of preoperative gabapentin in postoperative pain management is not clear, particularly in patients receiving regional blockade. Patients undergoing thoracotomy benefit from epidural analgesia but still may experience significant postoperative pain. We examined the effect of preoperative gabapentin in thoracotomy patients. ⋯ A single preoperative oral dose of gabapentin (600 mg) did not reduce pain scores or opioid consumption following elective thoracotomy, and did not confer any analgesic benefit in the setting of effective multimodal analgesia that included thoracic epidural infusion.
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Comparative Study
Health care costs in patients with painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy prescribed pregabalin or duloxetine.
Pregabalin and duloxetine are two FDA-approved medications for the treatment of pain associated with diabetic peripheral neuropathy (pDPN). The objective of this study was to compare changes in all-cause and pDPN-related health care costs in patients with pDPN initiated on pregabalin or duloxetine. ⋯ No differences were noted in all-cause costs attributable to pregabalin or duloxetine. Although patients receiving pregabalin had a significantly greater pre- to post-index increase in pDPN-related health care costs compared with patients receiving duloxetine, this may have been due to an imbalance in patient exclusion criteria between cohorts.