Browse by Audience
Little is known about the evidence required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for new approvals of opioid analgesics.
Learn More >Opioids form an important component of general anesthesia and perioperative analgesia. Discharge opioid prescriptions are identified as a contributor for persistent opioid use and diversion. In parallel, there is increased enthusiasm to advocate opioid-free strategies, which include a combination of known analgesics and adjuvants, many of which are in the form of continuous infusions. This article critically reviews perioperative opioid use, especially in view of opioid-sparing versus opioid-free strategies. The data indicate that opioid-free strategies, however noble in their cause, do not fully acknowledge the limitations and gaps within the existing evidence and clinical practice considerations. Moreover, they do not allow analgesic titration based on patient needs; are unclear about optimal components and their role in different surgical settings and perioperative phases; and do not serve to decrease the risk of persistent opioid use, thereby distracting us from optimizing pain and minimizing realistic long-term harms.
Learn More >Use of triptans for acute treatment of migraine is associated with insufficient efficacy and/or tolerability in approximately 30-40% of people. We conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) to synthesize definitions, terminology, subsequent treatment outcomes, and characteristics associated with this subpopulation.
Learn More >The purpose of this paper is to review and synthesize current literature in which neurochemical and structural brain imaging were used to investigate chronic migraine (CM) pathophysiology and to further discuss the clinical implications.
Learn More >Physical therapy visit number and timing following knee arthroplasty (KA) are variable in daily practice. The extent to which the number and timing of physical therapy visits are associated with current and future pain and function-and, alternatively, whether pain and function are associated with the number of future physical therapy visits following KA-are unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine temporal and reciprocal associations between the number of physical therapy visits and future pain and function in people with KA.
Learn More >Neuropathic pain is a debilitating secondary condition for many individuals with spinal cord injury. Spinal cord injury neuropathic pain often is poorly responsive to existing pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatments. A growing body of evidence supports the potential for brain-computer interface systems to reduce spinal cord injury neuropathic pain via electroencephalographic neurofeedback. However, further studies are needed to provide more definitive evidence regarding the effectiveness of this intervention.
Learn More >To use an animal model of migraine to test whether migraine headache might arise from a brainstem-trigeminal nucleus pathway.
Learn More >This systematic review aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of different interventions at reducing pain-related fear in people with fibromyalgia and to analyze whether the included trials reported their interventions in full detail.
Learn More >In chronic pain conditions, the pressure pain threshold (PPT) has been utilized to investigate the presence of central sensitization (CS).
Learn More >The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has been training clinicians in its cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic pain (CBT-CP) structured protocol since 2012. The aim of this project was to review patient outcomes to determine the effectiveness of the VA's CBT-CP treatment. From 2012-2018, 1,331 Veterans initiated individual CBT-CP treatment as part of the training program. Patient outcomes were assessed with measures of patient-reported pain intensity, pain catastrophizing, depression, pain interference, and quality of life (physical, psychological, social, and environmental). Mixed models of the effects of time indicated significant changes across pretreatment, midtreatment, and treatment conclusion on all outcomes. There was a large effect size (Cohen's d = 0.78) for pain catastrophizing, and there were medium to large effect sizes ( > 0.60) for worst pain intensity, pain interference, depression, and physical quality of life. Systematic training of therapists and implementation of the VA's CBT-CP protocol yielded significant patient improvements across multiple domains. This offers strong support for the VA's CBT-CP as an effective, safe treatment for Veterans with chronic pain and highlights it as a model to increase the availability of training in standardized, pain-focused, evidence-based, behavioral interventions. The findings suggest that the broad dissemination of such training, including in routine, nonpain specialty settings, would improve patient access to effective, nonpharmacological treatment options in both the public and private sectors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
Learn More >