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Opioid overdose rates continue to increase, and extant literature suggests that many individuals who use heroin were first introduced to opioids through a medical prescription.
Learn More >Bupivacaine hydrochloride (BVC) represents an option to produce long-lasting analgesia, and complexation in cyclodextrins has shown improvements in biopharmaceutical properties. This study aimed to characterize and test the cytotoxicity and antinociceptive effects of BVC complexed in sulfobutylether-β-cyclodextrin (SBEβCD). The kinetics and stoichiometry of complexation and BVC-SBEβCD association constant were evaluated by phase solubility study and Job's plot. Evidence of the BVC-SBEβCD complex formation was obtained from scanning electron microscopy (SEM), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The cytotoxicity was evaluated in keratinocyte (HaCaT) and neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y). Antinociceptive effects were registered via orofacial pain models: the formalin test, carrageenan-induced hyperalgesia, and postoperative pain (intraoral incision). The complex formation occurred at a 1:1 BVC-SBEβCD molar ratio, with a low association constant (13.2 M). SEM, DSC, and FTIR results demonstrated the host-guest interaction. The IC values determined in SH-SY5Y were 216 µM and 149 µM for BVC and BVC-SBEβCD, respectively (p < 0.05). There was no difference in HaCaT IC. In orofacial pain model, BVC-SBEβCD significantly prolonged antinociceptive effect, in about 2 h, compared to plain BVC. SBEβCD can be used as a drug delivery system for bupivacaine, whereas the complex showed long-lasting analgesic effects.
Learn More >The appropriate recognition and assessment of pain in animals is an essential tool that can be used by veterinary professionals, rehabilitators, household caregivers, and others to provide supportive care and analgesia to patients. Although the use of behavioral, postural, and facial changes to recognize pain have been studied in popular domestic species such as dogs (), cats (), and rabbits (), very little is known relative to avian species. The purpose of this article is to provide a literature review comprising structured searches on the topic of avian pain recognition. The emphasis of the searches were based on the behavioral and postural alterations that have thus far been explored. The literature review was performed in the months of August-September 2020 over 5 online databases: MEDLINE/ PubMed, CAB Direct, Biosis, Zoological Record, and Scopus. Additional "snowballing" was incorporated by looking at the references and articles that cited the 126 articles from the initial abstract and full-text screening. Of the 194 full-text articles reviewed, 132 sources of literature were included in the final analysis. From these 132 sources of literature, 31.8% were general review articles in which avian pain behaviors were described irrespective of species, with others being specific to a particular species (chickens 47.8%, turkeys 7.6%, parrots 3.8%, pigeons [] 3%, raptors 3%, and "other" 3%-2 on ducks, 1 on emus [], and 1 on Eurasian blue tits []). Pain stimulus varied depending on species, although the vast majority of the pain stimuli involved welfare issues such as beak trimming, limb abnormalities, and keel bone fractures in chickens. Although information regarding this topic remains limited for many avian species, this review provides a more thorough understanding of behavioral indicators of pain in species such as chickens, turkeys, psittacines, pigeons, raptors, and select others. It is the hope that this review will motivate further interest and future analgesia research for the improvement of avian welfare.
Learn More >The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a novel challenge for healthcare delivery and implementation in the United States (US) in 2020 and beyond. Telemedicine arose as a significant and effective medium for safe and efficacious physician-patient interactions. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine while available, had infrequently been utilized in pain medicine practices due to difficulties with reimbursement, the learning curve associated with new technology usage, and the need for new logistical systems in place to implement telemedicine effectively. Given the unique constraints on the healthcare system during the COVID-19 pandemic, the ubiquitous utilization of telemedicine among pain medicine physicians increased, giving insight into potential future roles for the technology beyond the pandemic.
Learn More >Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic, painful, degenerative inflammatory disease of the synovial joints. Regular use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to decrease OA pain can have severe side effects, such as gastric irritation, ulcers, and heart problems. Natural products are extensively used to minimize OA-associated pain and inflammatory reactions. is commonly used to alleviate several diseases through its anti-inflammatory effects. This study examined the impact of extract on alleviating pain and inflammation associated with articular cartilage damage.
Learn More >International Dermatology Outcome Measures (IDEOM) is a non-profit organization founded in 2013. It is composed of researchers and stakeholders who work to develop evidenced-based outcome measures to enhance research and treatment recommendations of dermatologic diseases.
Learn More >In the presence of neuropathic pain, other sensory qualities, such as touch or pressure, which are a sign of nerve damage, are almost always affected. However, it is unclear to which extent spinal cord stimulation (SCS) influences these simultaneously damaged sensory pathways or possibly contributes to their regeneration.
Learn More >The Brazilian Headache Society (Sociedade Brasileira de Cefaleia, SBCe, in Portuguese) nominated a Committee of Authors with the aim of establishing a consensus with recommendations regarding prophylactic treatment for episodic migraine based on articles published in the worldwide literature, as well as personal experience. Migraine affects 1 billion people around the world and more than 30 million Brazilians. In addition, it is an underdiagnosed and undertreated disorder. It is well known within the medical community of neurologists, and especially among headache specialists, that there is a need to disseminate knowledge about prophylactic treatment for migraine. For this purpose, together with the need for drug updates and to expand knowledge of the disease itself (frequency, intensity, duration, impact and perhaps the progression of migraine), this Consensus was developed, following a full online methodology, by 12 groups who reviewed and wrote about the pharmacological categories of the drugs used and, at the end of the process, met to read and establish conclusions for this document. The drug classes studied were: anticonvulsants, tricyclic antidepressants, monoclonal anti-calcitonin gene-related peptide (anti-CGRP) antibodies, beta-blockers, antihypertensives, calcium channel inhibitors, other antidepressants (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, SSRIs, and dual-action antidepressants), other drugs, and polytherapy. Hormonal treatment and anti-inflammatories and triptans in minimum prophylaxis schemes (miniprophylaxis) will be covered in a specific chapter. The drug classes studied for part I of the Consensus were: anticonvulsants, tricyclic antidepressants, monoclonal anti-CGRP antibodies, and beta-blockers.
Learn More >The impact of psoriasis on quality of life arises from both physical symptoms, such as pain and pruritus, and the psychosocial effects of the often highly visible lesions. For patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis seeking amelioration of these symptoms, time to onset of treatment response is an important consideration when determining an appropriate therapeutic approach with their healthcare provider.
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