Articles: pain-management.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Belg · Jan 1994
MRI and clinical study of an easy and safe technique of suprascapular nerve blockade.
Suprascapular nerve block is used with increasing frequency by anaesthetists and rheumatologists in the management of shoulder pain from a variety of disorders. In the classical technique, the needle is introduced into the supraspinous fossa perpendicular to the blade of the scapula and then is moved to enter the scapular notch, with the risk of pneumothorax or damage to the suprascapular nerve or vessels. ⋯ Introducing the needle parallel to the blade, i.e. away from the direction of the lung and the suprascapular nerve and vessels, and injecting the solution into the floor of the supraspinous fossa is an easy and safe technique. We report the results of a MRI and clinical study that confirm the efficacy of this approach.
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Stereotact Funct Neurosurg · Jan 1994
An experimental animal model of spinal cord stimulation for pain.
In spite of the routine usage of spinal cord stimulation (SCS) as treatment of chronic pain, there is an insufficient understanding of the mechanisms underlying its effect. The method was originally developed as a spin-off from experiments demonstrating the inhibitory control of nociceptive signals by the activation of large afferent fibers, and on the basis of these findings the gate-control theory was advanced. Later experiments showed that stimulation of the dorsal columns can inhibit the relay of nociceptive impulses to second-order neurons in the dorsal horn. ⋯ SCS was applied at the approximate level of Th-XII during 10-20 min and produced a marked augmentation of the stimulus threshold. This abnormally high threshold was not normalized until 30-60 min after the end of SCS. In awake animals SCS was applied via an implanted spinal electrode and the effect on behavior changes associated with mononeuropathy was studied.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Important differences become evident in a comparison of cancer pain between children and adults. Management of pain in children is commonly multidisciplinary, is less dependent on invasive measures and relies more on systemic therapy. Children are not little adults: their immaturity, developing cognition and dependence all influence their experience and interpretation of pain. ⋯ We are opposed to euthanasia. Psychosocial and cultural issues all influence the family's experience of palliative care. Further research is necessary in all of these areas.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED)
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Anxieties and emotional disturbances associated with cancer often cause pain therapy to be unsuccessful. When psychological support is required it is mostly aimed at supporting cancer patients in attempts to cope with their disease so as to improve the efficiency of pain therapy. In our study we focused on the barriers to cancer pain management that lie in patient's beliefs about pain and their coping behavior. ⋯ Those patients who used cognitive coping strategies and did not communicate often received inadequate pain therapy. Those who talked about pain but did not use any other coping strategies were mostly well treated. We have designed a brochure, "What tumour patients should know about pain" directly oriented on the above pain beliefs; this is now being evaluated with reference to its educational effect.