Pain Management News and Research

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High cost of pain in Australia

For the first time, a dollar value has been attached to the high cost of pain in Australia in an MBF Foundation funded study that reveals a massive annual cost of $34.3 billion -- nearly $11,000 for each of the estimated 3.2 million people grappling with pain.

19 Nov 2007

Anesthesia pouch allows children to go home sooner after surgery

Children recovering from orthopaedic surgery feel less pain and leave the hospital sooner when they go home with a small pouch that delivers local anesthetic agents and blocks pain transmission from surgical sites.

5 Nov 2007

New web-based software helps ease children's pain during medical procedures

A new system under development by a team of researchers at the University of Iowa will help children better cope with pain during difficult medical procedures.

17 Oct 2007

New guide on pancreatic cancer

A new guide on pancreatic cancer, co-authored by the chair of Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, offers a better understanding to patients and caregivers of the unique challenges associated with a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.

8 Oct 2007

New targeted approach to pain management

Imagine an epidural or a shot of Novocain that doesn't paralyze your legs or make you numb, yet totally blocks your pain.

4 Oct 2007

Warning about dangerous potential of pain drug Fentora

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States has warned doctors about the dangers of a drug used to treat pain in cancer sufferers.

26 Sep 2007

Methadone for managing chronic pain

Approximately 30% of Canadians suffer daily from chronic pain. Patients may be affected differently depending on the intensity, but all chronic pain is debilitating and difficult to treat.

13 Sep 2007

Mind-body therapies may help elderly chronic pain sufferers

Mind-body therapies, which focus on the interactions between the mind, body and behavior, and the ways in which emotional, mental, social and behavioral factors can affect health, may be of particular benefit to elderly chronic pain sufferers.

11 Sep 2007

Opioid-based pain medications may cause sleep apnea

Opioid-based pain medications may cause sleep apnea, according to an article in the September issue of Pain Medicine, the journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine.

10 Sep 2007

Americans popping more pills

Americans are it seems popping more pills than ever, as according to an analysis of federal data, sales of leading painkiller medications soared by 90 percent in the eight years between 1997 and 2005.

21 Aug 2007

Next generation painkillers

Scientists studying one of nature's simplest organisms have helped to unravel the structure of a key molecule that controls pain in humans.

From The University of Manchester 12 Jul 2007

One in 10 hospice patients are referred too late for services

The study is based on surveys completed by bereaved family members and designed to gauge the quality of hospice programs, which provide medical care with social, emotional and spiritual support for the dying.

29 Jun 2007

Pain management is a fundamental human right

A growing international consensus urges change in several areas - including increased availability of controlled medications such as opioids - toward the goal of recognizing effective treatment for pain as a fundamental human right, according to a special article in the July issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, the official publication of the International Anesthesia Research Society and published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

27 Jun 2007

Animal studies shouldn't alter anesthesiology practice in newborns

Recent studies showing that commonly used anesthetic agents can cause brain damage in animals don't prove that similar harmful effects occur in human newborns - and shouldn't affect current approaches to anesthesia in preterm and ill infants, according to a leading expert on pain management in newborns.

26 Jun 2007

Genzyme files for FDA approval of single-treatment Synvisc-One

Genzyme Corp. has announced that it has filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval of Synvisc-One, the single treatment of Synvisc (hylan G-F 20) that provides up to six months of pain relief from osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee.

23 Jun 2007

New center for the treatment of sarcoma at Cedars-Sinai

A new center for the treatment of sarcoma, a type of cancer that affects bone and soft tissue, will open on June 12 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute.

1 Jun 2007

JRRD releases issue on pain

Effects of depression and pain severity on satisfaction in medical outpatients: Analysis of the Medical Outcomes Study, pg. 143 Patient satisfaction is a critical measure of healthcare quality.

1 Jun 2007

Gene therapy provides hope for peripheral neuropathy

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine report that they have successfully used gene therapy to block the pain response in an animal model of neuropathic pain, a type of chronic pain in people for which there are few effective treatments.

1 Jun 2007

Counseling helps arthritis sufferers

Arthritis sufferers who undergo psychological counseling and learn skills for coping with pain have less disability and better quality of life, according to a new systematic review.

11 May 2007

Caring for the sick now a public health priority for developing countries

Palliative care is commonly used in developed countries to improve the quality of life of patients with life-threatening illnesses, through strategies aimed mainly at pain relief.

10 May 2007