Articles: back-pain.
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Comparative Study
A Comparison of Expectations of Physicians and Patients with Chronic Pain for Pain Clinic Visits.
The patient-physician encounter forms the cornerstone of every health service. However, optimal medical outcomes are often confounded by inadequate patient-physician communication. Chronic pain is estimated to affect over 25% of the population. Its effects are multifaceted with patients at increased risk of experiencing emotional and functional disturbances. Therefore, it is crucial to address all components of the patient's pain experience, including beliefs and expectations. It is our understanding that no other study to date has evaluated the expectations of physicians and compared them to those of patients for pain clinic visits. We sought to describe and compare expectations of chronic pain patients and their physicians during a clinic consultation. ⋯ We found some agreement and some discordance of clinical expectations between pain patients and physicians. Patient factors may also impact on expectations and comorbidities. Findings from this study will help doctors consider patients' expectations in planning pain clinic visits, improve patient-doctor communication and pain management, and may lead to further hypothesis-driven studies.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Randomized sham-controlled, double-blind, multicenter clinical trial on the effect of percutaneous radiofrequency at the ramus communicans for lumbar disc pain.
Investigate the effect of percutaneous radiofrequency compared to a sham procedure, applied to the ramus communicans for treatment of lumbar disc pain. ⋯ Interrupting signalling through the ramus communicans may interfere with the transition of painful information from the discs to the central nervous system. Methodological differences exist in studies evaluating the efficacy of radiofrequency treatment for lumbar disc pain. A randomized, sham-controlled, double-blind, multicenter clinical trial on the effect of radiofrequency at the ramus communicans for lumbar disc pain was conducted. The null hypothesis of no difference in pain reduction and in Global Perceived Effect between the treatment and sham group cannot be rejected.
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Review Meta Analysis
Systematic review of patient history and physical examination to diagnose chronic low back pain originating from the facet joints.
Patient history and physical examination are frequently used procedures to diagnose chronic low back pain (CLBP) originating from the facet joints, although the diagnostic accuracy is controversial. The aim of this systematic review is to determine the diagnostic accuracy of patient history and/or physical examination to identify CLBP originating from the facet joints using diagnostic blocks as reference standard. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science and the Cochrane Collaboration database from inception until June 2016. ⋯ Due to clinical heterogeneity, the evidence for the diagnostic accuracy of patient history and/or physical examination to identify facet joint pain is inconclusive. Patient history and physical examination cannot be used to limit the need of a diagnostic block. The validity of the diagnostic facet joint block should be studied, and high quality studies are required to confirm the results of single studies.
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Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation is associated with chronic pain. Studying pain sensitivity and the HPA axis could elucidate the role of stress in chronic pain development, which might be influenced by familial factors, including genes. ⋯ These findings contribute to understanding possible mechanisms underlying chronic pain by demonstrating that HPA axis response to negative feedback is related to pain sensitivity.