A study in the December issue of Anesthesiology suggests a role for brain imaging in the assessment and potential treatment of chronic pain. University of Michigan researchers are the first to use brain imaging procedures to track the clinical action of pregabalin, a drug known by the brand name Lyrica® that is prescribed to patients suffering from fibromyalgia and neuropathic pain.
Lisa Hoglund, PT, PhD, assistant professor of the Department of Physical Therapy at University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, said many factors that contribute to seasonal aches and pains can be avoided by practicing good posture and stretching.
A comprehensive analysis of more than 1 million hospital admissions finds that over 50 percent of all nonsurgical patients were prescribed opioids during their hospitalizations -- often at very high doses.
People with chronic pain and emotional distress are more likely to be given ongoing prescriptions for opioid drugs, which may not help, finds a new review in General Hospital Psychiatry.
Anesthesia was in its infancy when the American Civil War began. Using case studies of two wounded soldiers, a private and a general, a UAB anesthesiologist reports on its early use. “As we honor the sesquicentennial, or 150th anniversary, of the Civil War, it is still widely believed that the sole anesthetic agent used was the whiskey bottle,” said Maurice S. Albin, M.D., professor in the UAB Department of Anesthesiology. “But sulfuric ether was first used in 1846, and chloroform a year later.”
More than 40 percent of 200,000 U.S. women diagnosed with breast cancer every year undergo surgery. Though treatment advances have significantly reduced mortality from breast cancer, a study published in The Journal of Pain reported that persistent postmastectomy pain is rated by survivors as their most troubling symptom.
Misuse of prescription opioids among adolescents and young adults has generated significant media coverage, but less attention has been given to differentiating the underlying motives for opioid misuse. A study published in The Journal of Pain showed that pain relief, not getting high, was the most prevalent motive for medical misuse of opioids among adolescents. This factor alone motivated 4 in 5 adolescents who misused their prescribed pain medications.
A study presented at the American Public Health Association shows the benefits of an exercise program offered by Hospital for Special Surgery in senior centers in New York City's Chinatown and in Flushing, Queens
The study has discovered a link between chronic use of pain-relieving medication and increase in the risk of developing major depression.
Lower back injuries are the third most common injuries suffered in athletes under age 18. Many injuries are severe enough to sideline young athletes for one-to-six months, and put them at future risk for long-term back problems, a study has found.
Can a new liposomal bupivacaine product provide long-lasting nerve block with a single injection? An initial study in humans shows promise—but also some "confusing results," reports the November issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).
Developed using molecular-level techniques, the "designer" sedative drug remimazolam provides a promising new alternative for sedation in patients undergoing colonoscopy, reports a study in the November issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).
Imagine significantly reducing a persistent migraine or fibromyalgia by a visit to a doctor who delivers low doses of electricity to the brain
Use of a patellofemoral knee brace can improve pain symptoms and bone marrow lesions in patients with a type of osteoarthritis of the knee, according to new research findings presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting in San Diego.
Pregabalin (Lyrica® Capsules CV) can significantly improve fibromyalgia pain in people who also are being treated for depression, according to research presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting in San Diego.
It may seem counterintuitive, but young and middle-aged fibromyalgia patients report worse symptoms and poorer quality of life than older patients, a Mayo Clinic study shows.
Researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery found that people who lacked good social connections were much more likely to experience serious, ongoing pain following total hip replacement surgery two or more years after the procedure.
Epigenetics, the study of changes in gene expression through mechanisms outside of the DNA structure, has been found to control a key pain receptor related to surgical incision pain, according to a study in the November issue of Anesthesiology. This study reveals new information about pain regulation in the spinal cord.
A single injection eased severe, chronic pain caused by late-stage bone cancer in dogs, according to a study in the November issue of Anesthesiology. Dogs with bone cancer that received a neurotoxin injection had significantly more pain relief than those that got standard care without the injection.
In the U.S., low back pain is a major clinical and public health problem affecting eight out of 10 people at some point during their lives. Dr. Charles H. Hennekens and his collaborators explain that two topical herbal remedies, capsaicin and a combination of wintergreen oil and peppermint oil offer potential alternative treatments to NSAIDs and COXIBS, and, in addition, are likely to have far fewer side effects.
The prevalence of depression among those with migraine is approximately twice as high as for those without the disease (men: 8.4% vs. 3.4%; women 12.4% vs. 5.7%), according to a new study published by University of Toronto researchers.
A new recovery program for abdominal surgery patients at University of Virginia Health System is helping patients go home sooner while making them more comfortable both before and after surgery.
Researchers have identified hundreds of variants in a patient’s DNA sequence or genetic code that predict which military service members are more likely to develop persistent, chronic pain after amputation, according to a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2013 annual meeting.
Before and after spinal surgery, patients on a polyamine-deficient diets experienced significant relief of both chronic and acute pain, according to a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2013 annual meeting.
Patients with fibromyalgia resistant to more routine therapies have a new pain relief treatment available, according to a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2013 annual meeting. Intravenous (IV) lidocaine infusion provided significant pain relief to fibromyalgia patients, although the pain relief was much less for African-Americans and smokers.
The incidence of chronic pain following cardiac surgery can be reduced in patients when the drug pregabalin is used before surgery and for 14 days post-surgery, according to a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2013 annual meeting. The study also found that patients at risk of developing long-term post-operative persistent pain can be predicted by conducting pain sensitivity tests at the time of surgery.
For the more than 45 million Americans who suffer from chronic headaches, relief may be on the way in the form of an electric pulse, according to a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2013 annual meeting. Electric stimulation of the peripheral nerve reduced average headache intensity by more than 70 percent.
Using intravenous (IV) acetaminophen with narcotics provides more effective pain relief to children having tonsillectomies, according to a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2013 annual meeting. Additionally, the combination therapy saves costs due to reduced use of narcotics after surgery, reduced side effects and slightly quicker hospital discharge than in patients who receive narcotics alone.
Menopausal women suffer from half as many hot flashes after receiving a non-hormonal chronic pain treatment, according to a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2013 annual meeting. The nerve block treatment interrupts the area of the brain that regulates body temperature, reducing moderate-to-severe hot flashes and alleviating depression in menopausal women, breast cancer patients and women in surgical menopause.
The results of a new study by bone and joint experts at Rush University Medical Center suggest that patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) who wear flat, flexible footwear, which allows natural foot mobility and provide sufficient support for the foot, had significant reduction in knee loading—the force placed upon the joint during daily activities.
You may be able to eat all of the ice cream you want after having your tonsils removed, but researchers at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit say you don’t necessarily need a prescription to reduce post-operative pain – an over-the-counter pain-reliever is just as effective.
University of Adelaide researchers have made advances in the understanding of one of the world's most common medical conditions, gastric reflux, and how patients experience pain from it.
Anne Mosley developed intense pelvic pain while she was pregnant with her youngest child 17 years ago. The pain was caused by a grape-sized pocket of fluid on her urethra, which became infected.
Pediatric researchers have found race- and ethnicity-based disparities in pain management and length of stay among children who came to hospital emergency departments for treatment of abdominal pain.
New research from Johns Hopkins suggests that it may not be the steroids in spinal shots that provide relief from lower back pain, but the mere introduction of any of a number of fluids, such as anesthetics and saline, to the space around the spinal cord.
American Academy of Pain Medicine physician leaders hail long-awaited labeling changes by FDA as a way to enhance patient safety in answer to a 2012 Citizen's Petition.
Prescribing of strong opioid medications for non-cancer pain in the United States has nearly doubled over the past decade, reports a study in the October issue of Medical Care, published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
A new study led by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health finds that during a decade when prescription opioid use has skyrocketed, the identification and treatment of pain has failed to improve, and the use of non-opioid analgesics has plateaued, or even declined. The study was published online September 13 in the journal Medical Care.
Using large and frequent doses of the pain-killer codeine may actually produce heightened sensitivity to pain, without the same level of relief offered by morphine, according to new research from the University of Adelaide.
Multi-faceted pain research discoveries within the last decade are bringing new hope for the estimated 100 million Americans with chronic pain. Unfortunately, translation of these scientific advances into clinical practice could be stalled without sufficient funding for both basic science and clinical pain research, according to the American Pain Society.
People who get occasional migraines are more likely to be obese than people who do not have migraines, according to a study published in the September 11, 2013, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
A new published study in Journal of Cellular Physiology by a team led by Dr. Antonio Giordano and Dr. Gianfranco Bellipanni of Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine and Temple University (Philadelphia, USA) adds a new prospective on the research on pain perception.
A recent Institute of Medicine report indicates that 116-million Americans live with some form of chronic pain. Historically, chemists have developed drugs aimed at just one biological target. Two drugs used together may metabolize differently or present other issues. This new drug, named UMB 425 by the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy research team, affects two different opioid receptors, providing diminished tolerance.
Migraine may have long-lasting effects on the brain’s structure, according to a study published in the August 28, 2013, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Studies show that migraine is more common among people with lower incomes. This relationship is examined in a study published in the August 28, 2013, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, looking at whether developing migraines limits people’s educational and career achievements, leading to a lower income status, or whether problems related to low income such as stressful life events and poor access to health care increase the likelihood of developing migraines.
Although a pooling of data from 12 studies showed a statistically significant association between use of lateral wedge insoles and lower pain in medial knee osteoarthritis, among trials comparing wedge insoles with neutral insoles, there was no significant or clinically important association between use of wedge insoles and reduction in knee pain, according to a study in the August 21 issue of JAMA.
When post surgical pain becomes chronic pain, the causes could be related to the type of surgery performed or from common psychological factors considered to be predictive of chronic post-op pain, such as anxiety, depression and pain catastrophizing. Research reported in The Journal of Pain showed that a combination of acute pain and anxiety and pain magnification, regardless of the type of surgical procedure, increases the risk for development of chronic pain.
Pain is the most common reason a patient sees a physician but few physicians have received adequate training to help their patients, according to a Henry Ford Hospital article published in the Journal of American Osteopathic Association. An estimated 100 million people in the United States are living with chronic pain, which accounts for up to $635 billion annually in health care costs and lost productivity. A 2011 study found that for every medical specialist, there are more than 28,500 patients with chronic pain.
Pain is the most common and costly health problem in the United States, but allocations of public and private research dollars for pain studies lag far behind funding levels for several other diseases, which impact significantly fewer people and have far less economic impact. According to the American Pain Society (APS), just one percent of research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is dedicated to pain research, even though some 100 million Americans have chronic pain, as the Institute of Medicine has reported
Funding for pain research remains at disproportionately low levels despite overwhelming evidence that untreated and undertreated chronic pain is the costing the nation more than $600 billion a year in medical costs and lost work time, and is expected to soar even higher as the population continues to age. Roger B. Fillingim, PhD, is president of the American Pain Society and an outspoken advocate for increased public and private funding support for basic science and clinical pain research.
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