Articles: pain-measurement.
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J Clin Psychopharmacol · Apr 2011
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyEffects of pregabalin on heart rate variability in patients with painful diabetic neuropathy.
Many studies have demonstrated that low heart rate variability (HRV) is a risk for high mortality and morbidity in patients with cardiovascular diseases. The primary purpose of the study was to evaluate whether pregabalin improves HRV in patients with diabetes and painful peripheral neuropathy. Resting heart rates were collected by using the LifeShirt System, developed by VivoMetrics (Ventura, Calif), at baseline and at the end of a 4-week intervention of pregabalin or placebo in patients with painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Heart rate variability analysis was performed on the collected R-R intervals using the Vivo- VMLA-036-00 3 Logic of the LifeShirt system. Of the 40 patients enrolled in the study, 70% completed the end of 4-week assessments (n = 15 in pregabalin and n = 14 in placebo). Compared with placebo, pregabalin treatment resulted in significant improvement in HRV measured by frequency domain analysis, that is, a reduction in low frequency-high frequency ratio (-1.30 ± 2.89 vs 0.37 ± 0.33, P = 0.03) and power of normalized low frequency (-0.049 ± 0.092 vs 0.0066 ± 0.023, P = 0.02), as well as an increase in power of normalized high frequency (0.039 ± 0.094 vs -0.038 ± 0.066, P = 0.02). Furthermore, pregabalin resulted in greater reduction of pain and symptoms of anxiety and greater improvement of quality of life. The improvement of HRV measures were not correlated with change of those measures. In conclusion, 4-week pregabalin treatment improved HRV in patients with painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy.
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Int J Psychophysiol · Apr 2011
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyHigh pain sensitivity is distinct from high susceptibility to non-painful sensory input at threshold level.
Individuals may differ considerably in their sensitivity towards various painful stimuli supporting the notion of a person as stoical or complaining about pain. Molecular and functional imaging research provides support that this may extend also to other sensory qualities. Whether a person can be characterized as possessing a generally high or low sensory acuity is unknown. ⋯ Moreover, no clustering was obtained for thresholds to both painful and non-painful stimuli together. Thus, individuals could not be characterized as highly sensitive (or insensitive) to all chemical stimuli no matter of evoking pain. This suggests that pain is primarily a singular sensory perception distinct from others such as olfaction or taste.
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Musculoskeletal surgery · Apr 2011
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyPostoperative pain monitor after total knee replacement.
Aim of this work was to study the postoperative pain within the first week of a total knee replacement by comparing three different forms of administration of analgesia. We proposed to verify the correspondence between a subjective pain assessment made by the patient on a Visual Analogic Scale (VAS) and an objective assessment made by assaying the serum algogenic cytokines interleukin-1 (IL1), interleukin-6 (IL6), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha). ⋯ The other two cytokines showed no differences preoperatively and postoperatively. On the basis of our results, we support the validity of IL6 dosage to monitor the postoperative pain during future studies.
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J Midwifery Womens Health · Mar 2011
Randomized Controlled TrialEffect of birth ball usage on pain in the active phase of labor: a randomized controlled trial.
Anxiety can be a contributor to labor pain, which is known to be multifactorial. Because there is little information available on the efficacy of birth ball use for labor pain management, this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of use of a birth ball on labor pain, contractions, and duration of the active phase of labor. ⋯ Although the use of a birth ball had no effect on the duration of the active phase of labor, the duration of uterine contractions, or the interval between contractions, this complementary treatment could reduce the intensity of pain during the active phase of labor.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Transforaminal epidural clonidine versus corticosteroid for acute lumbosacral radiculopathy due to intervertebral disc herniation.