Pain

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the sternocleidomastoid and the descending portion of the trapezius muscles in terms of electromyographic activity and pressure pain threshold in women with chronic cervical pain after acupuncture treatment. METHODS: Twenty-five women, aged 18-50 years [(31±3) years], with chronic neck and temporomandibular disorder participated in the study. The electromyographic activity of the sternocleidomastoid muscle and the descending portion of the trapezius muscle were recorded at rest, during shoulder elevation, (left and right) rotation of the neck and crucifix position...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of acupressure on postpartum low back pain (LBP), salivary cortisol, physical limitations, and postpartum depression. METHODS: Participants were 70 postpartum women who were randomly assigned to either an intervention (n = 35) or a control (n = 35) group. The intervention group received 10 acupressure sessions (1 session per day, 5 d per week). The control group received 10 sham acupressure sessions. Outcomes were assessed using a visual analogue scale (LBP intensity), salivary cortisol values (LBP biomarker), and Chinese versions of the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (daily activity limitations), Oswestry Disability Index (physical activity limitations), and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (postpartum depression)...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effectiveness of electroacupuncture at Jiaji acupoints (EX-B 2) plus moxibustion and intermediate frequency on postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). METHODS: A total of 140 outpatients who satisfied the inclusion criteria and volunteered for this treatment were randomly divided into treatment (n = 70) and control (n = 70) groups. Both groups received a localized lesion area and electroacupuncture treatment combined with moxibustion and intermediate frequency...

OBJECTIVE: To develop a core outcome set for endometriosis. DESIGN: Consensus development study. SETTING: International. POPULATION: One hundred and sixteen healthcare professionals, 31 researchers, and 206 patient representatives. METHODS: Modified Delphi method and modified nominal group technique. RESULTS: The final core outcome set includes three core outcomes for trials evaluating potential treatments for pain and other symptoms associated with endometriosis: overall pain; improvement in the most troublesome symptom; and quality of life...

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to characterize the prevalence and risk of pain, pain interference, and recurrent pain in adult survivors of childhood cancer in comparison with siblings. METHODS: This study analyzed longitudinal data from survivors (n = 10,012; 48.7% female; median age, 31 years [range, 17-57 years]; median time since diagnosis, 23 years) and siblings (n = 3173) from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study. Survivors were diagnosed between 1970 and 1986 at 1 of 26 participating sites...

OBJECTIVE: The monoclonal antibodies against calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) or its receptor are new antimigraine drugs from which many patients already benefit. Very few side effects have been reported from the antibody trials, including very few gastrointestinal (GI) side effects. The current data derive from a double-blind cross-over study of CGRP infusion for 2 hours. We present the GI side effects of the infusion and raise the question if underreporting of GI symptoms in CGRP antibody trials has occurred...

BACKGROUND: Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common life-threatening, inherited disease in white populations which causes several dysfunctions, including postural abnormalities. Physical therapy may help in some consequences of these postural abnormalities, such as pain, trunk deformity and quality of life. OBJECTIVES: To determine the effects of a range of physical therapies for managing postural abnormalities in people with cystic fibrosis, specifically on quality of life, pain and trunk deformity...

Acute pain is one of the most common complaints in the emergency department. With recent efforts to find effective non-opioid analgesics, ketamine has surfaced as a potential option for ED analgesia.1-3 While ketamine is typically used as a sedative agent, several studies have shown that when it is administered in sub-dissociative doses, both as a stand-alone agent and as an adjunct to opioids, it may also provide analgesia.4 Two recently published meta-analyses compared ketamine with opioid analgesics in adult ED patients with acute pain...

This journal recently published a paper by Sharpe et al., entitled "Necessary components of psychological treatments in chronic pain management programs: A Delphi study" (Sharpe, Jones, Ashton-James, Nicholas, & Refshauge, 2020). These researcher sought the views of authors of relevant RCTs published up to September 2016 and supplemented these with input from psychologists working in pain management programs in Australia.

OBJECTIVES: To describe a transforaminal endoscopic spinal decompression technique for treating adult patients with isthmic spondylolisthesis and report preliminary surgical and radiological results. BACKGROUND: Spondylolisthesis is prevalent in the general population. Surgical approaches for symptomatic spondylolisthesis that is refractory to conservative treatment vary. Direct repair of pars fractures and spinal nerve decompression with or without fusion have been reported with varied clinical results...

PURPOSE: To investigate the safety and outcomes of laparoscopic control of intraperitoneal mesh positioning in open umbilical hernia repair. METHODS: This study is a retrospective review of a series of adult patients with uncomplicated umbilical hernia who underwent elective open repair with a self-expanding patch with laparoscopic control from March 2011 to December 2018. The adequacy of mesh positioning was inspected with a 5-mm 30° scope in the left flank. The primary endpoint was recurrence...

OBJECTIVE:  To describe clinical and sociodemographic characteristics of women with deep infiltrating endometriosis (DIE) and assess their quality of life (QOL) during 6 months of medical treatment. METHODS:  A descriptive cross-sectional study of 60 women diagnosed with DIE either by surgery or image methods (ultrasound or magnetic resonance), who received clinical treatment for at least 6 months in the Universidade de Campinas, Campinas, state of São Paulo, Brazil...

BACKGROUND: Flooding can have extensive effects on the health and wellbeing of affected communities. The impact of flooding on psychological morbidity has been established; however, the wider impacts of flooding exposure, including on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), have not been described. METHODS: Using data from the English National Study of Flooding and Health cohort, HRQoL 2 and 3 years post-flooding was assessed with the EuroQol Group EQ-5D-5L tool...

BACKGROUND: Placebo analgesia studies generally reported that the actual use of a placebo analgesic reduces pain. Yeung VW, Geers A, Kam SM. Merely possessing a placebo analgesic reduced pain intensity: Preliminary findings from a randomized design. Curr Psychol. 2019;38(1):194-203 found that the mere possession (without use) of a placebo analgesic also reduces pain. PURPOSE: We investigated the relative effectiveness of using versus possessing a placebo analgesic on pain outcomes...

BACKGROUND: Compared to White and high socioeconomic status (SES) patients, Black and low SES patients receive less adequate pain care. Providers may contribute to these disparities by making biased decisions that are driven, in part, by their attitudes about race and SES. PURPOSE: We examined the effects of patient race and SES on providers' chronic pain decisions and the extent to which providers' implicit and explicit attitudes about race and SES were related to these decisions...

Heterotopic ossification (HO) is excess bone growth in soft tissues, typically juxta-articular and interfascicular, with varying incidence. This excess bone growth has been well-documented in cases of traumatic amputation but less frequently observed in cases of nontraumatic amputation. Symptomatic heterotopic ossification usually includes pain during prosthetic use with management involving prosthetic adjustments for comfort. This atypical case highlights a patient with a nontraumatic amputation and a proximal-oriented large spur formation that was not painful with ambulation but with doffing his prosthesis...

Context: Various forms of simulation-based training, including training models, increase training opportunities and help assess performance of a task. However, commercial training models for lumbar puncture and epidural procedures are costly. Objective: To assess medical students' and residents' perception of 3-dimensional (3D)-printed lumbar, cervical, and pelvic models for mastering joint injection techniques and to determine the utility of ultrasonography-guided needle procedure training...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Putting oneself into the shoes of others is an important aspect of social cognition. We measured brain hemodynamic activity and eye-gaze patterns while participants were viewing a shortened version of the movie 'My Sister's Keeper' from two perspectives: that of a potential organ donor, who violates moral norms by refusing to donate her kidney, and that of a potential organ recipient, who suffers in pain. Inter-subject correlation (ISC) of brain activity was significantly higher during the potential organ donor's perspective in dorsolateral and inferior prefrontal, lateral and inferior occipital, and inferior-anterior temporal areas...