BACKGROUND: The assessment of pain management outcomes is important for the quality assurance of palliative care. The objective of this study was to determine whether there are significant variations in pain management outcomes among palliative care centers and whether they are affected by organizational factors. METHODS: Data used in this ...

Abstract Background: The literature has described the use of ketamine as an adjuvant treatment for opioid-refractory cancer pain. None of these studies have used the drug in a palliative care patient population. Aims: The primary objective of the study was to assess the efficacy of continuous intravenous infusion of ketamine ...

PURPOSE: Adequate pain control is essential in cancer treatment. We surveyed Finnish physicians' perception on their skills and training needs on palliative pain management. METHODS: A structured questionnaire with multiple choices and open ended questions was used for collecting data in 2006-2008. Of 720 physicians participating, 59 were working in ...

A 45 year old man with metastatic colon cancer presented with uncontrollable abdominal wall pain. Transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block with ropivacaine and methylprednisolone was performed with excellent pain relief, which allowed a significant weaning of the patient's opioid requirements. A second TAP block was performed with a 33% ethanol ...

Aims:  When pain is refractory to systemic opioid and nonopioid analgesic therapy and palliative chemoradiation or ablative or stimulant neurosurgical procedures are not possible, palliative treatment becomes limited, particularly if the patient wishes to be at home at the end of life. Intracerebroventricular (ICV) infusion of morphine in the home ...

Experiences of social rejection or loss have been described as some of the most "painful" experiences that we, as humans, face and perhaps for good reason. Because of our prolonged period of immaturity, the social attachment system may have co-opted the pain system, borrowing the pain signal to prevent the ...

Abstract Objective: To evaluate the impact of local lidocaine incision-site injection in patients undergoing cesarean deliveries (CD), on post operative pain and analgesic requirements. Study design: In this prospective, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study, patients undergoing elective CD were randomly assigned to receive 1% lidocaine solution or placebo to the incision site, ...

Many treatments have been proposed for myofascial pain syndrome. The objective of this study was to compare the analgesic effect of acupuncture to trigger point injection combined with cyclobenzaprine chlorhydrate and sodium dipyrone. A randomized study was performed in 30 patients divided into 2 groups: G1 received trigger point injection ...

Pain is one of the most prevalent conditions for which patients seek medical attention. Additionally, the number of patients who utilize complementary and alternative medicine as a treatment of pain either in lieu of, or concurrent with, standard conventional treatments continues to grow. While research into the mechanisms, side effect ...

Acupuncture has been successfully used in myofascial pain syndromes. However, the number of needles used, that is, the dose of acupuncture stimulation, to obtain the best antinociceptive efficacy is still a matter of debate. The question was addressed comparing the clinical efficacy of two different therapeutic schemes, characterized by a ...

Acupuncture therapy has been applied to various psychiatric diseases and chronic pain since acupuncture stimulation might affect brain activity. From this point of view, we investigated the effects of acupuncture on autonomic nervous system and brain hemodynamics in human subjects using ECGs, EEGs and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Our previous studies ...

This paper aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture for qualities of life (QoL) in patients suffering from pain associated with the spine (PAWS). Acupuncture has been shown to reduce pain severity, but its effect on QoL is unknown. PubMed, CINAHL, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials as well ...

Acupressure on local and distal acupuncture points might result in sedation and relaxation, thereby reducing chronic neck pain. The aim was to investigate the effect of acupressure at local (LP) and distal acupuncture points (DP) in females with chronic neck pain. Thirty-three females were assigned to three groups: the control ...

To provide information about the clinical use of acupuncture at an academic medical centre in the USA. A retrospective review of 904 patients (receiving 6070 treatments) who were referred for acupuncture treatment at the Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minnesota, USA) between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2008. Data gathered included ...

BACKGROUND: Insertion of an acupuncture needle into an acupuncture point typically generates a range of sensations called 'de qi'. Most acupuncturists are taught that obtaining de qi is important when treating patients with pain but this can be quite uncomfortable for patients. OBJECTIVE: This study assesses the importance of the ...

This study compared verum acupuncture (VA) and sham acupuncture (SA) stimulation by assessing autonomic and subjective responses. Autonomic responses such as skin conductance response (SCR) and heart rate (HR) were measured. Subjective pain ratings were collected and evaluated. A correlation analysis was performed for SCR and HR changes and subjective ...

The aim of the study was to examine whether acupuncture is an effective additional pain treatment for endometriosis. One hundred and one women aged 20-40 years participated and were randomised into two groups, each receiving two units of 10 acupuncture treatments, twice a week over a period of five weeks. ...

Though acupuncture has long been used to treat various kinds of pain, its mechanisms remain partly understood. Our recent study has shown that it may inhibit cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in the spinal dorsal horn where COX-2 is upregulated after the development of neuropathic pain following spinal nerve ligation (SNL). The current ...

The German Randomized Acupuncture Trial for chronic shoulder pain (GRASP) comprised 424 outpatients with chronic shoulder pain (CSP) > or =6 weeks and an average pain score of VAS > or =50 mm, who were randomly assigned to receive Chinese acupuncture (verum), sham acupuncture (sham) or conventional conservative orthopaedic treatment ...

The aim was to investigate the frequency of adverse effects due to acupuncture treatment, the need for treatment and the costs in patients with chronic low back or neck pain. This prospective observational study included patients who received acupuncture for chronic low back pain or chronic neck pain. After treatment ...

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to perform a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the scientific literature regarding the use of acupuncture in the treatment of pain associated with temporomandibular disorders (TMDs). METHODS: By using electronic databases, the goal was to search and evaluate all the randomized controlled trials ...

The aim of this study was to determine, using analysis of covariance, whether a statistical reanalysis of a previously published study on neuropathic pain would reveal undetected significant effects of acupuncture and amitriptyline on pain, attrition, and mortality in HIV-infected patients. Shlay et al published an article in the Journal ...

Preplanned secondary analysis of data from participants receiving acupuncture in a randomized clinical trial. To determine whether patients' expectations of and preferences for acupuncture predict short and long-term treatment outcomes for persons with chronic back pain. Although accumulating evidence suggests that patient expectations and treatment preferences may predict treatment outcomes, ...

Several systematic reviews (SRs) have assessed the effectiveness of acupuncture for rheumatic conditions, often with contradictory conclusions. Our aim is to provide a critical evaluation and summary of these data. Electronic searches were conducted in 15 databases to locate all SRs on acupuncture for rheumatic conditions published since 2000. Data ...

This case describes the successful addition of acupuncture to treat a patient with cervical dystonia previously managed with Botox (botulinum toxin) injections. This resulted in reduced pain and muscle spasm relief and to the authors' knowledge is the first case to be reported using this treatment combination. The patient was ...

The aim of this paper was to quantify the influence of the physician's training and experience in the field of acupuncture on the outcome in patients with chronic pain. Patients visiting their physician because of chronic low back pain, headache, pain due to osteoarthritis of the knee or hip, or ...

Acupuncture is frequently used for pain relief in labour, but the evidence is not clear. To critically evaluate the evidence for or against acupuncture for labour pain management. Nineteen electronic databases, including English, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese databases, were systematically searched. All randomised controlled trials (RCTs) involving women receiving acupuncture ...

To determine whether acupuncture reduces pain and dysfunction in patients with cancer with a history of neck dissection. The secondary objective is to determine whether acupuncture relieves dry mouth in this population. Patients at a tertiary cancer center with chronic pain or dysfunction attributed to neck dissection were randomly assigned ...

BACKGROUND: There is evidence that acupuncture activates different spinal and supraspinal antinociceptive systems, but the specific modulatory effects on the sensory system have not been systematically investigated. In this study, we evaluated the immediate effects of different types of acupuncture on thermal, mechanical, and vibratory sensory thresholds. METHODS: Twenty-four healthy ...

Itch accompanies most inflammatory skin diseases but may occur as a solitary sensation in otherwise normal skin. Chronic itch often requires combined treatments but some cases remain therapy resistant. Complementary medicine is becoming increasingly popular among patients. Acupuncture is the oldest and most well-studied alternative option with evidence-based effect on ...

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is difficult to cure. Many methods have been used for its treatment, among which traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been considered as an important strategy. All of the three parts of TCM: Chinese herbs, acupuncture, and massage have been reported with varying degrees of therapeutic effects on ...

OBJECTIVES: In clinical practice it is known that subjects vary in their response to acupuncture, but there is little data on what predicts the outcome. The aim of this study was to identify such predictors. METHOD: A secondary analysis was performed on data from 100 participants in a trial of ...

OBJECTIVES: To collect information on the role of acupuncture in pain management from pain physicians and referral physicians who manage clinical pain conditions. METHODS: The survey was conducted between 2007 and 2008 through nationwide direct mail or e-mail to 1083 physicians who are currently practicing in the United States. We ...

Acupuncture has been used to treat various clinical diseases in Eastern medicine. To investigate the analgesic effect of electroacupuncture (EA) pretreatment on carrageenan-induced inflammatory pain, we studied on the effect of EA parameters on an animal model of acute arthritic pain. Pretreatment with 1 mA, 10 Hz EA prior to carrageenan injection ...

OBJECTIVES: Acupuncture, an alternative medical therapy with a long history, is appealing because it can activate endogenous analgesic mechanisms by minimally invasive means. The mechanisms of acupuncture, however, are not well understood yet. The following sentence was removed from our original manuscript. One of the major problems impeding understanding of ...

OBJECTIVES: In order to apply appropriate acupuncture stimulation, different needle manipulation techniques are required. These manipulations are performed in many ways such as twirling the needle, varying the insertion angle, etc. The present study was designed to evaluate the antinociceptive effect of these manipulations to the acupuncture point ST36 on ...

OBJECTIVE: This study examined whether a needle-free acupuncture can be an alternative to conventional needle injection acupuncture. METHODS: Patients (n=101) suffering myofascial shoulder pain were randomly assigned to either needle-free or conventional needle injection acupuncture group. Bee venom was administered into GB21 (Gyeonjeong) acupuncture point for both groups. RESULTS: Shoulder ...

Acupuncture appears to be a clinically effective treatment for acute and chronic pain. A considerable amount of research has been conducted to evaluate the role that acupuncture plays in pain suppression; however, few studies have been conducted to evaluate the side effects of the acupuncture procedure. This case report describes ...

The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of low level laser applied to acupuncture points of patients diagnosed with temporomandibular dysfunction (TMD). Ten patients aged between 20 and 50 years were clinically examined with regard to pain and dysfunction of the masticatory system. They received laser applications ...

To systematically review the efficacy of acupuncture in fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). MEDLINE, PsychInfo, EMBASE, CAMBASE and the Cochrane Library were screened (through July 2009). The reference sections of original studies and systematic reviews for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on acupuncture in FMS were searched. Seven RCTs with a median treatment ...

PURPOSE Women with breast cancer (BC) treated with aromatase inhibitors (AIs) may experience joint symptoms that can lead to discontinuation of effective therapy. We examined whether acupuncture improves AI-induced arthralgias in women with early-stage BC. METHODS We conducted a randomized, controlled, blinded study comparing true acupuncture (TA) versus sham acupuncture ...

OBJECTIVE: To describe patients' experience of acupuncture treatment in low back and pelvic pain during pregnancy. DESIGN: An intervention study carried out between September 2000 and December 2001, involving 40 pregnant women. PARTICIPANTS: The study population consisted of healthy pregnant women presenting with low back and pelvic pain at maternity ...

Comorbid psychopathology is a variable not explored in the acupuncture RCTs that could explain whether subgroups of patients with chronic low back pain have differential responses to acupuncture or placebo treatments. This was a controlled, blinded, crossover trial of verum acupuncture and validated sham acupuncture in 40 CLBP patients, with ...

OBJECTIVES: There is controversy as to whether or not acupuncture is more effective than placebo. To help clarify this debate, we synthesized the evidence gathered from systematic reviews on the pooled data of high-quality randomized controlled trials comparing acupuncture to sham acupuncture for chronic pain. METHOD: Systematic reviews of acupuncture ...

The clinical efficacy of electroacupuncture and acupuncture in combination with medication for the treatment of thoracolumbar intervertebral disc herniation was investigated in paraplegic dogs with intact deep pain perception. To evaluate the additional effect of electroacupuncture, dogs treated with conventional medicines alone were compared to dogs treated with electroacupuncture and ...

BACKGROUND: Electro-acupuncture (EA) can be effective in some pain conditions, but still there have been no randomized controlled studies of EA for treatment of acute postoperative pain in nasal septoplasty. Therefore, we did a study to test whether EA of specific points is superior to sham acupuncture for complementary analgesia ...

The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of electroacupuncture and sham acupuncture in the treatment of patients with chronic neck pain. 31 patients with chronic neck pain were included in a randomised, controlled trial. Electric stimulation was given for 30 minutes at low frequency (1-4Hz), pulse width ...

Chronic neck myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) is a common disorder seen in clinics. There is no gold standard method to treat myofascial pain. We investigated the effects of acupuncture on patients with chronic neck MPS by a single-blind randomized controlled trial. A total of 35 patients were randomly allocated to ...

BACKGROUND: Acupuncture is often used to treat fibromyalgia (FM), but it remains unclear whether acupuncture is effective. This study aims to evaluate the effects of acupuncture on pain and quality of life (QoL) in FM patients. METHODS: Sixteen patients (13 women and 3 men aged 25-63 years) suffering from FM ...

BACKGROUND: Chronic non-specific low back pain (LBP) is a prevalent (80%) and multi-dimensional illness. This study aims to test whether acupuncture, baclofen, or combined treatment with acupuncture and baclofen alleviates symptoms of non-specific chronic LBP in men. METHODS: Eight-four (84) men aged 50-60 years with non-specific chronic LBP were randomly ...