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Pediatric patients with chronic musculoskeletal conditions such as idiopathic scoliosis awaiting surgical correction can experience pain that interferes with their daily functioning. Reports of this interference are commonly gathered from patients through the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Pain Interference Scale and through parent-proxy scores. However, the child and parent/caregiver reports vary. In order to provide appropriate treatment for young patients with pain, the nature of the discrepancies and under which circumstances the reports differ needs to be understood. This report offers new information on the level of concordance among parent and child report of pain interference within this patient population, and which parent and child characteristics may influence concordance rates.
Learn More >Abdominal pain is common and is associated with high disease burden and health care costs in pediatric acute recurrent and chronic pancreatitis (ARP/CP). Despite the strong central component of pain in ARP/CP and the efficacy of psychological therapies for other centralized pain syndromes, no studies have evaluated psychological pain interventions in children with ARP/CP. The current trial seeks to 1) evaluate the efficacy of a psychological pain intervention for pediatric ARP/CP, and 2) examine baseline patient-specific genetic, clinical, and psychosocial characteristics that may predict or moderate treatment response.
Learn More >Poor sleep is common among adults with chronic low back pain (cLBP), but the influence of cLBP treatments, such as yoga and physical therapy (PT), on sleep quality is under studied.
Learn More >Endometriosis is a debilitating women's health condition and is the most common cause of chronic pelvic pain. Impaired cognitive control is common in chronic pain conditions, however, it has not yet been investigated in endometriosis. The aim of this study was to explore the neuronal correlates of cognitive control in women with endometriosis. Using a cross-sectional study design with data collected at a single time-point, event-related potentials were elicited during a cued continuous performance test from 20 women with endometriosis (mean age = 28.5 ± 5.2 years) and 20 age- and gender-matched controls (mean age = 28.5 ± 5.2 years). Event-related potential components were extracted and P3 component amplitudes were derived with temporal principal components analysis. Behavioral and ERP outcomes were compared between groups and subjective pain severity was correlated with ERP component amplitudes. No significant behavioral differences were seen in task performance between the groups (all > 0.094). Target P3b (all < 0.034) and SW (all < 0.040), and non-target early P3a (eP3a; all < 0.023) and late P3a (lP3a; all < 0.035) amplitudes were smaller for the endometriosis compared to the healthy control group. Lower non-target eP3a ( < 0.001), lP3a ( = 0.013), and SW ( = 0.019) amplitudes were correlated with higher pain severity scores. Findings suggest that endometriosis-associated chronic pelvic pain is linked to alterations in stimulus-response processing and inhibitory control networks, but not impaired behavioral performance, due to compensatory neuroplastic changes in overlapping cognitive control and pain networks.
Learn More >Orofacial pain features may negatively influence a person's well-being and vice versa. Some aspects of well-being can be measured with axis II instruments that assess patients' psychosocial and behavioral status. The aim of this study was to investigate associations between pain features and psychosocial variables as indicators of well-being. Seven hundred ninety-nine anonymized datasets collected using the Web-based Interdisciplinary Symptom Evaluation (WISE) of patients reporting to the Interdisciplinary Orofacial Pain Unit, University of Zurich, between March 19, 2017 and May 19, 2019, were analyzed. Pain features including intensity, number of locations, impact, and duration were evaluated. Psychometric measures assessed pain-related catastrophizing and disability, illness perception, distress, anxiety, depression, injustice experience, dysmorphic concerns, and insomnia. Most patients were between 30 and 59 years old (58.3%), female (69.8%), working (66.0%), and experienced pain for more than 6 months (68.5%). Pain intensities were higher in women than men and higher in disabled than working patients. Scores indicating elevated stress and depression were also observed in disabled patients. The sample prevalence rates of clinically relevant axis II instrument scores were as follows: Graded Chronic Pain Scale for the Head (GCPS-H), 27%; Patient Health Questionnaire 4 (PHQ4), 21%; PHQ9, 21%; Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), 20%; General Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD7), 15%; Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), 15%; Injustice Experience Questionnaire (IEQ), 14%; GCPS for the Body (GCPS-B), 13%; PHQ for Stress (PHQstr), 6%; and Dysmorphic Concern Questionnaire (DCQ), 2%. Noteworthy results of correlation analysis of the clinically relevant axis II scores and pain measures were as follows: the PHQstr had moderate associations (0.34-0.43) with the sum of pain intensity at rest and during function, number of pain locations, and typical pain intensity. The IEQ scores were moderately associated with typical pain intensity at 0.39. The DCQ scores were moderately associated with pain extension at 0.41. Moderate correlations of certain pain and well-being measures were found in patients reporting clinically relevant stress, injustice experience, and dysmorphic concern, all of which reflect impaired well-being. PHQ4 is suitable for routine distress screening in the clinical setting.
Learn More >Non-specific low back pain (NLBP) causes an enormous burden to patients and tremendous costs for health care systems worldwide. Frequently, treatments are not oriented to existing guidelines. In the future, digital elements may be promising tools to support guideline-oriented treatment in a broader range of patients. The cluster-randomized controlled "Rise-uP" trial aims to support a General Practitioner (GP)-centered back pain treatment (Registration No: DRKS00015048) and includes the following digital elements: 1) electronic case report form (eCRF), 2) a treatment algorithm for guideline-based clinical decision making of GPs, 3) teleconsultation between GPs and pain specialists for patients at risk for development of chronic back pain, and 4) a multidisciplinary mobile back pain app for all patients (Kaia App).
Learn More >Placebo effects influence symptom perceptions and treatment outcomes. Placebo effects can be explored in laboratory settings controlling for natural history and expectations. Such a mechanistic approach to neurological disorders has been implemented in the domain of chronic clinical pain and other neurological disorders. This article therefore focuses on definitions and historical notes related to placebo effects and mechanisms of placebo effects in chronic pain. Knowledge on mechanisms of placebo effects could inform current clinical practice for the treatment of neurological disorders by focusing on patients (and providers) expectations for outcome optimization.
Learn More >Pain and body perception are essentially two subjective mutually influencing experiences. However, in the field of musculoskeletal disorders and rheumatic diseases we lack of a comprehensive knowledge about the relationship between body perception dysfunctions and pain or disability. We systematically mapped the literature published about the topics of: (a) somatoperception; (b) body ownership; and (c) perception of space, analysing the relationship with pain and disability. The results were organized around the two main topics of the assessment and treatment of perceptual dysfunctions. This scoping review followed the six-stage methodology suggested by Arksey and O'Malley. Ten electronic databases and grey literature were systematically searched. The PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews was used for reporting results. Two reviewers with different background, independently performed study screening and selection, and one author performed data extraction, that was checked by a second reviewer. Thirty-seven studies fulfilled the eligibility criteria. The majority of studies (68%) concerned the assessment methodology, and the remaining 32% investigated the effects of therapeutic interventions. Research designs, methodologies adopted, and settings varied considerably across studies. Evidence of distorted body experience were found mainly for explicit somatoperception, especially in studies adopting self-administered questionnaire and subjective measures, highlighting in some cases the presence of sub-groups with different perceptual features. Almost half of the intervention studies (42%) provided therapeutic approaches combining more than one perceptual task, or sensory-motor tasks together with perceptual strategies, thus it was difficult to estimate the relative effectiveness of each single therapeutic component. To our knowledge, this is the first attempt to systematically map and summarize this research area in the field of musculoskeletal disorders and rheumatic diseases. Although methodological limitations limit the validity of the evidence obtained, some strategies of assessment tested and therapeutic strategies proposed represent useful starting points for future research. This review highlights preliminary evidence, strengths, and limitations of the literature published about the research questions, identifying key points that remain opened to be addressed, and make suggestions for future research studies. Body representation, as well as pain perception and treatment, can be better understood if an enlarged perspective including body and space perception is considered.
Learn More >Vestibular migraine (VM) is the most common cause of spontaneous vertigo with no specific physical and laboratory examinations, and is an under-recognized entity with substantial burden for the individual and the society. In this study, by observing the brainstem auditory evoked potential (BAEP) and cognitive function of VM patients, the possible laboratory diagnostic indicators of VM and the influence of disease on cognitive function were discussed. The study included 78 VM patients, 76 migraine patients, and 79 healthy individuals. The age, gender, and other clinical history of the three groups matched. All participants underwent BAEP examinations, in which patients in the migraine group and outpatients of the VM group were in the interictal period, and inpatients in the VM group were examined during episodes, while all patients tested for the Addenbrooke's cognitive examination-revised (ACE-R) scale were in the interictal period. The differences in BAEP and ACE-R scores between the three groups of members and their relationship with the clinical features of VM patients were analyzed. The peak latency of I, III, and V wave in the BAEP of the VM group was longer than that of the migraine group and the control group ( < 0.05). The peak latency of V wave in the BAEP of the migraine group was longer than that of the control group ( < 0.05). The ACE-R of the VM group scored lower than the migraine group in terms of language fluency and language ( < 0.05), and lower than the control group in terms of total score, language fluency, language, and visuospatial ( < 0.05); and the ACE-R of the migraine group scored lower than the control group in the total score and visuospatial ( < 0.05). Migraine patients have brainstem dysfunction, and VM patients have more severe brainstem dysfunction than migraine patients, suggesting that VM patients have both central nervous system damage and peripheral nerve damage. Migraine patients have cognitive impairment, while cognitive impairment in VM patients is more severe than in migraine patients.
Learn More >Psychiatric disorders such as anxiety and depression are frequently observed in neuropathic pain patients, and negatively impact their quality of life. Mirogabalin is a novel ligand for the αδ subunit of voltage-gated calcium channels and has unique binding characteristics to αδ subunits and potent and long-lasting analgesic effects in neuropathic pain models.
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