PURPOSE The use of a collaborative drug therapy agreement (CDTA) by oncology pharmacists in a comprehensive pain clinic is described. SUMMARY Recognizing the complex clinical services required by patients with cancer, the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance began offering cancer pain management through a specialized pain service. Initially, the clinic was staffed by one attending physician; however,...

OBJECTIVE To assess the efficacy and safety of the topical 5% lidocaine medicated plaster in the treatment of localized neuropathic pain. STUDY DESIGN This was a case series at an Austrian pain clinic, using retrospective analysis. PATIENTS AND METHODS Data of 27 patients treated for localized neuropathic pain with the 5% lidocaine medicated plaster were retrospectively analyzed. Assessment...

Nerve block is the mainstay of therapy at pain clinics in Japan. The results of nerve blocks, namely the blocking of sensory pain pathways, vicious cycles of pain, sympathetic neural functions, and motor nerves are very useful in treating pain. If the same effects are to be obtained by drug administration, the concomitant use of many drugs with different actions is necessary, but even so, the e...

INTRODUCTION A cross-sectional study was performed at Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, a Danish tertiary university hospital, to describe current postoperative pain and nausea treatment with a view to identifying areas with improvement potential. MATERIAL AND METHODS Data on up to four of the major and most frequent types of surgery were collected from each department based on interviews with the ...

BACKGROUND Massage is increasingly used to manage chronic pain but its benefit has not been clearly established. The aim of the study is to determine the effectiveness of a single session of nurse-administered massage for the short term relief of chronic non-malignant pain and anxiety. METHODS A randomised controlled trial design was used, in which the patients were assigned to a massage or c...

OBJECTIVE To assess the final year medical students' knowledge, beliefs, and attitude toward cancer pain, and the need for a formal pain curriculum in medical schools. METHODS An epidemiological study was conducted from May 2008 to October 2009 at King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to assess the students' knowledge and attitude toward cancer pain management. A...

BACKGROUND Chronic pain clinics aim to improve challenging conditions, and although numerous studies have evaluated specific aspects of therapies and outcomes in this context, data concerning service impact on outcome measures in a general pain population are sparse. In addition, current trends in commissioning increasingly warrant services to provide evidence for their effectiveness. While a p...

Background: All nations are posed with the challenge of deciding how to allocate limited health care resources. A Patients’ Rights Law from 1999 gives patients in Norway with a serious health condition, for which there is efficacious and cost-effective treatment, a legal right to receive health care from the National Health Care system. Methods: Recently national guidelines have been produced f...

OBJECTIVE To explore the influence of age on the empirical classification of patients with chronic pain. DESIGN Cluster analyses of two cohorts defined by age. SETTING Two outpatient pain management clinics for young and older people. SAMPLE The sample consisted of 340 patients between the ages of 17 and 93 years, who were consecutively assessed on admission to the multidisciplinary pain ...