Articles related to PAIN MANAGEMENT

This 62-year-old man had a lung transplant 3 years previously for IPF and is on tacrolimus, mycophenolate, and prednisone. Which therapy is most appropriate for their zoster outbreak? IV acyclovir Oral famciclovir Oral valacyclovir Herpes zoster vaccine

Use of Carnett sign, greater trochanter palpation, and a simple extension to typical joint examination can reduce imaging and orthopedic referrals by primary care physicians and bring faster effective treatment to the patient.

The literature on chronic pain and stigma was reviewed by a group of academics from Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, who published their findings in the journal Pain and Therapy. Perhaps most unexpectedly, they discovered that stigma surrounding pain persists even in clinical settings, resulting in clinicians’ inadequate evaluations of patients’ pain, doubt about the reality of their suffering, and lower pain ratings. These factors frequently result in inadequate treatment of pain and a propensity to believe that it is solely a psychological disorder.

In a study of more than 800 rural-living men and women with knee osteoarthritis, an 18-month program of diet and exercise versus attention control yielded an average 14-pound greater weight loss in the test group – but not much difference in pain magnitude.

Chronic pain affects more than 20% of the US population. More than a dozen new medical therapies are being developed to improve quality of life and reduce the risk of addition. This report summarizes the status of 17 new pain management medications in the pipeline: 16 in phase 3 trials and one newly approved.

By 2018, gabapentin and opioids were prescribed in an overlapping manner in 7.6% of prescriptions. Prescribers are likely responding to restrictions on opioid prescribing put in place during the opioid epidemic. Increased co-prescribing was most frequently done under the direction of a pain specialist. Still, the effectiveness of the concurrent prescribing of opioids and gabapentin is uncertain and potentially dangerous because of an association with all-cause and drug-related hospitalizations.