Articles: chronic-pain.
-
Observational Study
Pain Psychology: A Global Needs Assessment and National Call to Action.
The Institute of Medicine and the draft National Pain Strategy recently called for better training for health care clinicians. This was the first high-level needs assessment for pain psychology services and resources in the United States. ⋯ This report calls for transformation within psychology predoctoral and postdoctoral education and training and psychology continuing education to include and emphasize pain and pain management. A system for certification is needed to facilitate quality control and appropriate reimbursement. There is a need for systems to facilitate identification and access to practicing psychologists and therapists skilled in the treatment of pain.
-
Besides neurons, activated microglia and astrocytes in the spinal cord dorsal horn (SCDH) contribute to the pathogenesis of chronic pain. Electroacupuncture (EA) has been used widely to treat various chronic pain diseases, however, the underlying mechanisms of EA are still not fully understood. ⋯ EA stimulation alleviates SNL-induced neuropathic pain, at least in part through inhibition of spinal glial activation. Moreover, inhibition of spinal microglia and astrocyte activation may contribute to the immediate effects and maintenance of EA analgesia, respectively.
-
No studies to date have systematically investigated insomnia symptoms among adults with sickle cell disease (SCD). The purpose of this study was to (1) describe the prevalence of insomnia symptoms and (2) identify biopsychosocial predictors in community-dwelling adults with SCD. Cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from 263 African American adults with SCD (aged 18 years or older). ⋯ While insomnia symptoms were associated with a number of biopsychosocial characteristics, depressive symptoms and acute pain were the only independent predictors. Given the high number of participants reporting clinically significant insomnia symptoms, nurses should screen for insomnia symptoms and explore interventions to promote better sleep among adults with SCD, with an emphasis on recommending treatment for pain and depression. In addition, current pain and depression interventions in this population could add insomnia measures and assess the effect of the intervention on insomnia symptomatology as a secondary outcome.
-
We investigated the extent to which anxiety and depression mediate the relationship between pain catastrophizing and the risk of prescription opioid misuse in chronic pain patients. ⋯ Due to the partially independent relationship of anxiety and catastrophizing, it is recommended that treatments for chronic pain patients employ techniques addressing both behaviors. The relationship between depression and catastrophizing requires more research since it was observed that their effects were confounded.
-
If the patient with hand pain remains without significant relief and without recovery of function after appropriate pharmaceutical and physical modality treatments, it is appropriate to consider a surgical approach to the pain. Categories of pain amenable to a surgical approach are pain caused by nerve compression, pain caused by a neuroma, and joint pain of neural origin. ⋯ Painful neuroma must be resected to stop the pain generator. For a painful joint, the biomechanics of that joint must first be stable before denervation.