Objectives Detection and measurement of pain in persons with dementia by using observational pain measurement tools is essential. However, the evidence for the psychometric properties of existing observational tools remains limited. Therefore, a new meta-tool has been developed: Pain Assessment in Impaired Cognition (PAIC), as a collaborative EU action. The aim is to describe the translation pr...

BACKGROUND Pain is elicited by cold, and a major feature of many neuropathic pain states is that normally innocuous cool stimuli begin to produce pain (cold allodynia). To expand our understanding of cold induced pain states we have studied cold pain behaviors over a range of temperatures in several animal models of chronic pain. RESULTS We demonstrate that a Peltier-cooled cold plate with +/...

There is a growing amount of evidence that alteration in pain processing by the peripheral and central nervous system play a role in osteoarthritis pain, leading to neuropathic-like symptoms. It is essential to identify knee and hip osteoarthritis patients with a neuropathic pain profile in order to offer such patients education and additional treatment options besides conventional pain treatme...

Thirty-seven patients with chronic back pain were entered into a randomised, 3-way, double-blind, cross-over comparison of naproxen sodium 550 mg twice daily, diflunisal 500 mg twice daily, and placebo. Each treatment was given for 14 days after a preadmission wash-out week during which only paracetamol was allowed. Patients were assessed on admission and at the end of each treatment with respe...

The visual analogue scale (VAS) and ordered categorical scales, i.e. numeric rating scales (NRS), are commonly used in the assessment of pain. However, these scales are bounded by fixed endpoints and thus the range of measurement is limited. The disparity in repeated assessments of perceived pain intensity with the VAS, NRS, and electrical stimulation applied as a matching stimulus was studied ...

OBJECTIVES The Constant-Murley score (CS) has been used for more than 25 years to assess shoulder function. Strength by itself accounts for 25% of the total score. The measurement at 90° abduction seems to be sometimes limited by pain, particularly with tendinopathy or subacromial impingement. We compared the assessment of isometric strength in anterior forward flexion and abduction and its eff...

AIM To evaluate the impact on the clinical service of incorporating cardiac troponin T (cTnT) measurement into the existing chest pain care pathway in our district general hospital. METHODS We randomised 200 consecutive patients admitted with acute chest pain, but without ST elevation on ECG, either to our existing chest pain care pathway (pathway 1) or to a new pathway incorporating semi-qua...

conclusions these findings indicate the usefulness of pca compared to the routine methods on pain relief after operation.therefore this method can be recommended to alleviate postoperative pain. background unrelieved pain after surgery can lead to increased postoperative complications, prolonged hospital stay and delayed recovery. patient-controlled analgesia (pca) has emerged as a standard tec...