Ultrasound has become an essential tool for diagnostic and procedural uses in the critical care environment. The May issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia outlines a new set of basic ultrasound learning skills developed specifically for use in anesthesiology-critical care medicine (ACCM) training programs.
To ice or not to ice -- that is the question. Or maybe the real issue is to heat or not to heat?
A mixture of over-the-counter medicine and experimental drugs could be just what the doctor ordered to provide more effective pain relief for arthritis sufferers.
Psychosocial risk factors, such as sleep duration, anxiety and parental fears, can be important predictors for identifying children most likely to experience higher pain intensity, delayed recovery and impaired quality of life following surgery, according to research reported in The Journal of Pain published by the American Pain Society.
Pain is the most common reason that people seek medical attention, but the available treatments are not always successful at relieving pain in patients with chronic pain. Saint Louis University researchers found that drugs targeting the A3 adenosine receptor can “turn off” pain signals in the spinal cord to provide relief from chronic pain.
The American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM) applauds the release of the draft National Pain Strategy (NPS) for public review. Long overdue, the report addresses key target areas including: public awareness and clinical education, access to better care, research into new treatment options, and gathering data on the prevention and treatment of pain.
Trending news releases with the most views in a single day. Topics include: organic chemistry, cybercrime, pancreatic cancer research from Mayo Clinic, diabetes, pediatrics, new cancer treatment in development at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, pain medicine research from the Ohio State University, marijuana in the workplace, and stem cells
Emergency department patients have misperceptions about opioid dependence and want more information about their pain management options, according to a new study from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The study, published online in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, found that patients seen in the emergency department for acute pain expressed a desire for better communication from physicians about their pain management options, along with discussion of the risks of opioid dependence.
Researchers studying the commonly used pain reliever acetaminophen found it has a previously unknown side effect: It blunts positive emotions.
The American Chiropractic Association (ACA), in response to recent research calling into question the efficacy of acetaminophen in the management of spinal pain, strongly encourages patients and healthcare providers to consider the benefits of a conservative approach to back pain. According to the British Medical Journal study, the widely used painkiller is ineffective against low-back pain and offers only “minimal short-term benefit” for people with osteoarthritis of the hip or knee. Similar conclusions were reached in a study published in The Lancet in July 2014, that acetaminophen “does not ease low-back pain.”
Research by Johns Hopkins scientists suggests that having a short series of phone conversations with trained counselors can substantially boost recovery and reduce pain in patients after spinal surgery.
New estimates suggest that 20 to 30 percent of opioid analgesic drugs prescribed for chronic pain are misused, while the rate of opioid addiction is approximately 10 percent, reports a study in the April issue of PAIN®, the official journal of the International Association for the Study of Pain. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.
Here are highlights from the March issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter. You may cite this publication as often as you wish. Reprinting is allowed for a fee. Mayo Clinic Health Letter attribution is required. Include the following subscription information as your editorial policies permit: Visit http://healthletter.mayoclinic.com/ or call toll-free for subscription information, 1-800-333-9037, extension 9771. Full newsletter text: Mayo Clinic Health Letter March 2015 (for journalists only).
Intravenous (IV) cosyntropin therapy was equivalent to epidural blood patch (EBP) in relieving pain from post-dural puncture headache (PDPH) with potential for fewer complications and lower costs, data from a randomized, controlled trial showed.
Early gains in pain relief, behavioral markers and function were not sustained in patients treated with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection for facet joint arthropathy, new research shows.
The first-ever randomized, controlled trial to compare spinal cord stimulation (SCS) technologies found that high-frequency SCS using 10 kHz (HF10) exceeded lower-frequency, traditional SCS in response rate and pain relief
Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) transplantation reduced opioid tolerance and opioid-induced hyperalgesia caused by daily morphine injections in rats, according to new research.
The main driver of patient experience depends less on the individual provider than on the overall coordination among the clinic, the primary care physician and all others who participate in delivery of care, Stanford researchers reported.
Markovian models show promise for describing postoperative pain states and, eventually, may help guide clinical decisions, a new study found.
People who suffer migraine headaches with auras are at roughly double the risk of suffering the most common type of stroke. The risk is more than tripled in migraine sufferers who smoke. And migraineurs who smoke and use birth control pills are seven times more likely to suffer strokes.
Patients with carpal tunnel syndrome are more than twice as likely to have migraine headaches, reports a study in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery—Global Open®, the official open-access medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).
Gardening can provide a great workout, but with all the bending, twisting, reaching and pulling, the body may not be ready for exercise of the garden variety. And if the body is not prepared for the sudden increase in activity, one can develop strains and sprains that involve soft tissues, muscles, tendons and ligaments.
Older adults who had spine imaging within 6 weeks of a new primary care visit for back pain had pain and disability over the following year that was not different from similar patients who did not undergo early imaging, according to a study in the March 17 issue of JAMA.
A select population of patients having surgery experience what is called pain catastrophizing – an irrational thought process that leads a patient to perceive pain as worse than it actually is. Antidepressant medications reduce negative mood and might change this way of thinking, but according to a study published in the April edition of Anesthesiology, the official medical journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists® (ASA®), that may not be the case, at least for acute pain.
The mechanism that causes high-performance athletes to “feel the burn” turns out to be the culprit in what makes people with chronic fatigue syndrome feel exhausted by the most common daily activities, new University of Florida Health research shows.
A new study by researchers from the Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center in Indianapolis, the Regenstrief Institute and the Indiana University School of Medicine reports that a stepped-care strategy improved function and decreased pain severity, producing at least a 30 percent improvement in pain-related disability.
At age 12, Rachael Fellers developed a debilitating form of pelvic pain that at times prevented her from standing, walking or going to the bathroom. Mrs. Fellers saw several doctors who determined that she had endometriosis. They unsuccessfully tried to alleviate her pain through medication and surgery.
Genetic factors help to explain the commonly found association between low back pain and depression, suggests a large study of twins in the March issue of PAIN®, the official publication of the International Association for the Study of Pain. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.
A study published in The Journal of Pain showed that just 2 of 3 accredited physical therapy (PT) schools surveyed believe their students receive adequate education in pain management.
Meditation might be an effective treatment for reducing chronic neck pain, according to research reported in The Journal of Pain.
A new study published in The Journal of Pain reports an association between a broad range of pre-existing mental disorders and subsequent onset of severe or frequent headaches.
Research reported in The Journal of Pain showed there is significant linkage between non-opioid substance abuse disorders, such as misuse of alcohol and illegal drugs, and therapeutic opioid abuse.
• In a study of patients with pre-dialysis chronic kidney disease, most patients reported chronic pain. • More severe pain was linked with both proper and improper use of pain medications.
There are many variables that contribute to a patient’s risk of chronic pain after surgery; however, until recently, physicians had no way to systematically identify those variables prior to surgery.
An international study led by scientists at McGill University reports, for the first time, that drugs that selectively target the melatonin MT2 receptor represent a novel class of analgesic drugs that could be used to treat patients with neuropathic pain.
If you’ve ever experienced intense, acute pain, you know what a relief it is when the pain finally subsides. But what if the pain doesn’t go away? It was a question to which Charles Schofield was determined to find an answer.
“The rise in opioid consumption has resulted in a doubling in visits to the emergency department for nonmedical OPR use but I also see patients who make errors with medications they are legitimately supposed to be taking,” says Megan Rech, emergency medicine pharmacist, Loyola University Health System. Loyola, an academic medical center, has a dedicated pharmacist with expertise specific to the Emergency Department.
Researchers have long sought alternatives to morphine – a powerful and widely used painkiller – that curb its side effects, including dependency, nausea and dizziness. Now, an experiment at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory has supplied the most complete atomic-scale map of such a compound docked with a cellular receptor that regulates the body’s pain response and tolerance.
While opioids are a widely used treatment for pain, patients who take them on a regular basis can become tolerant, requiring a higher dose for continued pain relief.
Epidural steroid injections are commonly used to treat pain; however, they can in rare situations produce life-threatening neurological injuries such as stroke and paralysis.
Some studies show migraine affects 6% of children and up to 28% of adolescents ages 15-17. To assist parents whose children suffer from migraine, and to help the children themselves, the American Migraine Foundation and its Chair, David W. Dodick, MD, FRCP (C) are offering a number of tips to help manage childhood migraine and minimize its impact. Dr. Dodick is Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine.
Infants show distinct, consistent patterns of brain activity in response to painful vaccinations, reports a study in the February issue of PAIN®, the official publication of the International Association for the Study of Pain. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
The study has identified a significant risk for potentially-fatal breathing disruption when morphine is administered at home after surgery to treat pain in children who undergo tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy.
The International Neuromodulation Society 12th World Congress in Montreal June 6 - 11, 2015 features traditional and cutting-edge ways to address chronic disease through interfacing with the body’s nervous system.
Outside the hospital, use of methadone to treat pain carries a 46 percent increased risk of death when compared to the equally effective but more costly alternative, morphine SR (sustained release). That’s according to a study from Vanderbilt University Medical Center, appearing online this week in JAMA Internal Medicine.
The January issue of the American Headache Society journal Headache provides an updated assessment of the best treatments to use when a migraine attack occurs. The assessment will form the basis of new AHS treatment guidelines. The paper was authored for the AHS by leading headache specialists Michael J. Marmura, MD and Stephen D. Silberstein, MD, FACP, both of the Jefferson Headache Center of Thomas Jefferson University, and by Todd J. Schwedt, MD, MSCI, of the Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic Arizona.
Penn Medicine researchers, in a continuation of their groundbreaking work to better understand how anesthesia works in the body, have found the first new class of novel anesthetics since the 1970s. Their findings, published in February issue of Anesthesiology, detail the processes through which the group uncovered these compounds.
Despite the variety of effective treatments, and physicians who specialize in treating pain, women often suffer unnecessarily from conditions ranging from backaches to pain after cancer surgery, and also treat their pain with medications that may be ineffective and possibly harmful, according to a review of research related to women and pain by the American Society of Anesthesiologists® (ASA®).
BOSTON – Each year more than 12 million Americans visit their doctors complaining of headaches, which result in lost productivity and costs of upward of $31 billion annually. A new study by researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) suggests some of that cost could be offset by physicians ordering fewer tests and an increased focus on counseling about lifestyle changes.
The American Migraine Foundation seeks to create the first Migraine Patient Registry and Biorepository – an international database of information on every person who has migraine, along with a collection of physical samples of saliva, blood and other genetic materials and biological fluids, and brain images – all of which can be used when conducting migraine research.
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