Articles: pain-measurement.
-
Support Care Cancer · Aug 2016
Methadone as first-line opioid treatment for cancer pain in a developing country palliative care unit.
The use of methadone for cancer pain is limited by the need of expertise and close titration due to variable half-life. Yet, it is a helpful palliative strategy in low-resources countries given its long-acting effect at low cost and worth additional study. Our aim was to describe the prescription and outcomes of methadone as a first-line treatment for cancer pain in a tertiary palliative care unit (PCU) in Argentina. ⋯ Results indicate the preference of methadone as first-line strong opioid treatment in a PCU, providing good pain relief at low doses with low need for rotation. Several considerations about the costs of strong opioids in the region are given.
-
Anesthesia and analgesia · Aug 2016
Observational StudyThe Association Between Progesterone, Estradiol, and Oxytocin and Heat Pain Measures in Pregnancy: An Observational Cohort Study.
Hormonal action has been implicated as a possible mechanism for pregnancy-induced analgesia. Previous investigators have reported an increase in heat pain tolerance during labor compared with nonpregnant controls and postulated it was because of the hormonal changes during pregnancy. However, these previous reports did not include measurement of hormonal values. The purpose of our study was to quantitatively test if changes in pregnancy hormone concentrations correlated with changes in temperature ratings. ⋯ Our findings show that amounts of estradiol and progesterone changed significantly between the term and the postpartum visit; however, the thermal pain tolerance did not significantly change. In summary, we did not observe an association between hormonal changes and changes in pain threshold measures. This finding argues against the concept of simple progesterone- or estrogen-induced analgesia in humans.
-
BMC Pharmacol Toxicol · Jul 2016
Anti-nociceptive and desensitizing effects of olvanil on capsaicin-induced thermal hyperalgesia in the rat.
Olvanil (NE 19550) is a non-pungent synthetic analogue of capsaicin, the natural pungent ingredient of capsicum which activates the transient receptor potential vanilloid type-1 (TRPV1) channel and was developed as a potential analgesic compound. Olvanil has potent anti-hyperalgesic effects in several experimental models of chronic pain. Here we report the inhibitory effects of olvanil on nociceptive processing using cultured dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons and compare the effects of capsaicin and olvanil on thermal nociceptive processing in vivo; potential contributions of the cannabinoid CB1 receptor to olvanil's anti-hyperalgesic effects were also investigated. ⋯ Olvanil is effective in reducing capsaicin-induced thermal hyperalgesia, probably via directly desensitizing TRPV1 channels in a CB1 receptor-independent fashion. The results presented clearly support the potential for olvanil in the development of new topical analgesic preparations for treating chronic pain conditions while avoiding the unwanted side effects of capsaicin treatments.
-
Chronic pain is more prevalent among women; however, the majority of standardized pain drawings are often collected using male-like androgynous body representations. ⋯ Providing gender-specific body charts may facilitate the communication of pain and the level of detail (2D vs 3D body charts) should be used according to patients' needs.
-
Bmc Musculoskel Dis · Jul 2016
Randomized Controlled TrialPatient participation in postoperative care activities in patients undergoing total knee replacement surgery: Multimedia Intervention for Managing patient Experience (MIME). Study protocol for a cluster randomised crossover trial.
Patient participation is an important indicator of quality care. Currently, there is little evidence to support the belief that participation in care is possible for patients during the acute postoperative period. Previous work indicates that there is very little opportunity for patients to participate in care in the acute context. Patients require both capability, in terms of having the required knowledge and understanding of how they can be involved in their care, and the opportunity, facilitated by clinicians, to engage in their acute postoperative care. This cluster randomised crossover trial aims to test whether a multimedia intervention improves patient participation in the acute postoperative context, as determined by pain intensity and recovery outcomes. ⋯ The results of this study will contribute to our understanding of the effectiveness of interventions that provide knowledge and opportunity for patient participation during postoperative in-hospital care in actually increasing participation, and the impact of participation on patient outcomes. The results of this study will also provide data about the barriers and enablers to participation in the acute care context.