Pain Management
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Pain Control in Older Adults
Many older adults experience pain, but there are limited guidelines to appropriately manage their pain. Additionally, assessment of pain control in older adult patients can be difficult because of impairments in cognition, hearing, and sight. Increasingly, acute care providers are challenged to manage pain in this unique population. This article will discuss the epidemiology and etiology of pain in the older adult population, the pathophysiology, tools for diagnosing pain in older adults with cognitive impairment, and appropriate multimodal pain management for older adult patients.
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Empowered Relief vs. CBT vs. Health Education for Low Back Pain
This randomized clinical trial involving adults with chronic low back pain demonstrates that a single session of a pain management class, when compared to a full course of cognitive behavioral therapy, yields noninferior (clinically on par) outcomes in pain catastrophizing and several other measures at the three-month follow-up.
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Can Antidepressants Help Patients Manage Chronic Pain?
Antidepressant medications have been widely used for treating a variety of chronic pain disorders, but strong evidence to support their efficacy is lacking. Some patients may respond, but available data do not help us determine which agents may be helpful in a specific type of chronic pain condition.
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Comparing the Effects of Electroacupuncture and Auricular Acupuncture on Pain Control?
This randomized clinical trial involves 360 cancer survivors and found that two types of acupuncture demonstrated superior pain control compared to usual care during a 12-week follow-up period.
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Antidepressants for Chronic Pain: Do They Work?
Antidepressant medications have been widely used for treating a variety of chronic pain disorders, but strong evidence to support their efficacy is lacking. Some patients may respond, but available data do not help us determine which agents may be helpful in a specific type of chronic pain condition.
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Walk! A Long-Term Observational Investigation of Knee Osteoarthritis
The results of an observational study of more than 1,000 individuals age 50 years and older with knee arthritis revealed regular walking for exercise correlated with fewer reports of new knee pain and slower disease progression, as verified by radiographic evidence at eight-year follow-up.
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Emergency Nurse Criminally Charged for Diverting Pain Medications
There are specific malpractice risks for EDs in this situation. Risks for patients include inadequate pain relief and infectious disease transmission. There also are patient safety issues related to receiving care from an impaired provider. For leaders, there are processes to put in place that can help them identify patterns or trends indicating potential diversion.
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Pain Researchers Are Engaging Patients as Partners
Pain researchers would benefit by enacting a comprehensive approach to patient engagement, perhaps engaging people with lived experience of chronic pain in developing study recruitment materials.
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Do Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Cause More Chronic Pain?
Acute inflammation may protect against the development of chronic pain through neutrophil activation. Using nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs may blunt that response and contribute to chronic pain.
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Prosecution for Excessive Painkillers Tough Case to Make
A recent case may have generated a fresh conversation about medical aid in dying and physician-assisted suicide.