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Whereas decades of research have been devoted to psychological factors that confer vulnerability to disability and other negative outcomes in the face of chronic pain, recent studies have begun to emphasize psychological characteristics that contribute to enhanced adaptation and better clinical outcomes. Accordingly, the present study was conducted as a longitudinal assessment of the predictive utility of pain resilience and pain catastrophizing as indicators of clinical outcomes among patients receiving a standardized treatment for chronic pain.
Learn More >This basic mechanistic study examined the changes in brain activation and resting-state connectivity after 8 weeks of CBT in youth with migraine.
Learn More >Attentional distraction from pain has been shown to be largely ineffective for obtaining a hypoalgesic effect in patients with chronic pain when compared to a control condition. It has been hypothesized that this may be due to the non-engaging types of distraction that have been used so far. Moreover, it is suggested that the hypoalgesic effects of distraction may be attenuated by pain-related cognitions and emotions, as they may increase the attention to pain.
Learn More >Long-term opioid use has negative health care consequences. Opioid-naïve adults are at risk for prolonged and persistent opioid use after surgery. While these outcomes have been examined in some adolescent and teenage populations, little is known about the risk of prolonged and persistent postoperative opioid use after common surgeries compared to children who do not undergo surgery and factors associated with these issues among pediatric surgical patients of all ages.
Learn More >Spontaneous and pharmacologically-provoked migraine attacks are frequently preceded by nonheadache symptoms called premonitory symptoms. Here, we systematically evaluated premonitory symptoms in migraine patients and healthy controls following glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) infusion. In women with migraine without aura (n=34) and age-matched female controls (n=24) we conducted systematically a semi-structured interview assessing 21 possible premonitory symptoms every 15 minutes in the 5 hours following GTN infusion (0.5 µg/kg/min over 20 min). Migraine-like headaches occurred in 28/34 (82.4%) migraineurs (GTN responders). After GTN, 26/28 (92.9%) responders, 6/6 (100%) non-responders, and 13/24 (54.2%) controls reported at least one possible premonitory symptom. Concentration difficulties (p=0.011), yawning (p=0.009), nausea (p=0.028), and photophobia (p=0.001) were more frequently reported by those migraineurs who developed a migraine-like attack versus healthy controls. Importantly, concentration difficulties were exclusively reported by those who developed a migraine-like attack. Thus, our findings support the view that GTN is able to provoke the naturally occurring premonitory symptoms, and show that yawning, nausea, photophobia, and concentration difficulties are most specific for an impending GTN-induced migraine-like headache. We suggest that these symptoms may also be helpful as early warning signals in clinical practice with concentration difficulties exclusively reported by those who develop a migraine-like attack.
Learn More >This study evaluated headaches among Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and whether there was any correlation between the motor symptoms and the severity of the headaches presented.
Learn More >The use of diet and physical activity in alleviating the burden of migraine is unclear, therefore, more scientific study on the role of positive health behaviors in migraine management is needed.
Learn More >The objective of this study was to design, code, and pilot test the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a self-management digital therapeutic tool for adolescents with migraine.
Learn More >Patients with neuropathic pain have altered proteomic and neuropeptide constituents in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) compared to controls. Tonic spinal cord stimulation (SCS) has demonstrated differential expression of neuropeptides in CSF before and after treatment suggesting potential mechanisms of action. Burst-SCS is an evidence-based paraesthesia free waveform utilised for neuropathic pain with a potentially different mechanistic action to tonic SCS. This study examines the dynamic biological changes of CSF at a cellular and proteome level after Burst-SCS.
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