Pain News and Research

Latest Pain News and Research

Boston Scientific pledges $100,000 to SIR Foundation's Discovery Campaign

The Society of Interventional Radiology Foundation's Discovery Campaign, which seeks to further the growth of minimally invasive medicine into new areas of discovery, announced a major corporate pledge to that initiative. Boston Scientific, a global leader in medical devices for cardiovascular and peripheral interventions, pledged $100,000 and is a "Pioneer" level supporter.

28 Mar 2012

Possible link between sleep apnea and post-surgical delirium

An anecdotal observation of a possible link between sleep apnea and post-surgical delirium has been measured and confirmed by a team of researchers at the Duke University Medical Center.

28 Mar 2012

Boniva generics receive FDA approval for treatment, prevention of osteoporosis

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the first generic versions of Boniva (ibandronate) tablets, a once-monthly product to treat or prevent osteoporosis in women after menopause.

27 Mar 2012

Detailed CT scan can safely and quickly rule out possibility of heart attack

A highly detailed CT scan of the heart can safely and quickly rule out the possibility of a heart attack among many patients who come to hospital emergency rooms with chest pain, according to the results of a study that will be presented by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania today at the American College of Cardiology's 61st Annual Scientific Session and published concurrently in the New England Journal of Medicine.

27 Mar 2012

Study shows safe and effective protocol for chest pain patients

Rhode Island Hospital physicians report that managing chest pain patients within an emergency department chest pain unit by both emergency medicine staff and cardiologists is safe and effective and may lower the use of stress testing.

27 Mar 2012

Minimally invasive treatments re-establish blood flow in people with chronic DVT

Interventional radiology treatments re-establish blood flow in people with chronic deep vein thrombosis (DVT), reducing disabling symptoms and improving the quality of life for those afflicted with post-thrombotic syndrome—an under-recognized but frequent long-term complication of DVT.

27 Mar 2012

CCTA can safely and rapidly identify candidates for discharge from EDs

Coronary CT angiography (CCTA) -- a non-invasive way to look inside arteries that supply blood to the heart -- can quickly and reliably determine which patients complaining of chest pain at an emergency department can safely be sent home, according to research presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 61st Annual Scientific Session.

27 Mar 2012

DBS allows surgeons to control tremors with brain 'pacemaker'

For nearly 30 years, Tom Rogers' left hand would shake when he tried to use it, making even simple tasks such as drinking a glass of water, writing a check, or making a sandwich challenging. The tremor eventually became so disruptive that he lost use of his dominant hand. Rogers sought care and learned that his tremor was a symptom of Parkinson's disease, yet felt he was suffering from something different.

27 Mar 2012

Medtronic pacemaker reduces risk of syncope recurrence

Medtronic, Inc. today announced the results of a double-blind, randomized study, ISSUE-3, which found that patients who suffered from fainting due to neurocardiogenic syncope had fewer fainting occurrences when treated with a Medtronic pacemaker.

From Medtronic 27 Mar 2012

Study clarifies conflicting reports for clot aspiration and abciximab administration

The anti-platelet drug abciximab, delivered directly to lesions caused by a heart attack, significantly decreased damage to the heart muscle in high-risk patients while clot aspiration showed no impact, according to research presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 61st Annual Scientific Session.

From Medtronic 27 Mar 2012

Study identifies major gene affecting chronic pain sensitivity

Nearly one in five people suffers from the insidious and often devastating problem of chronic pain.

27 Mar 2012

Novel interventional radiology procedure zaps around complicated pancreatic tumors

Results of a study presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 37th Annual Scientific Meeting in San Francisco, Calif., signal a light at the end of the tunnel for individuals with inoperable locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC). A new procedure called irreversible electroporation or IRE uses microsecond electrical pulses to force open and destroy tumor cells around a vast and delicate network of blood vessels of the pancreas.

27 Mar 2012

FDA issues Complete Response letter to MAP's NDA for LEVADEX

MAP Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a Complete Response letter to its New Drug Application (NDA) for LEVADEX (dihydroergotamine) inhalation aerosol.

27 Mar 2012

Medtronic Resolute DES found effective through two years

According to new clinical data presented today at ACC.12 -- the 61st Annual Scientific Session & Expo of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) -- the Resolute drug-eluting stent (DES) from Medtronic, Inc. maintains a powerful and persistent treatment effect for a wide variety of patients with coronary artery disease, including those with diabetes mellitus, through two years of follow-up.

From Medtronic 27 Mar 2012

Pregnancy raises risk of heart attacks

According to a new study pregnancy and related hormonal changes that continue 12 weeks after giving birth increase a woman's risk of heart attack. Although the likelihood of having a heart attack during pregnancy is very low - just 1 in every 16,000 deliveries - it is still 3 to 4 times higher than non-pregnant women of the same age.

26 Mar 2012

CSL Behring commences enrollment in SCIg PATH trial for CIDP

CSL Behring has announced that the first patient has been enrolled in the PATH study, an international clinical trial designed to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of two different doses of subcutaneous immunoglobulin (SCIg), compared with placebo, in maintenance treatment of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP).

26 Mar 2012

Minimally invasive treatments could target ‘hunger hormone’

A minimally invasive treatment may target hunger at its source, another uses X-ray visible embolic beads to block arteries to the stomach and suppress hunger and a third explores the use of stem cells to repair vertebral disc degeneration. Initial results from all these studies were reported at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 37th Annual Scientific Meeting in San Francisco, Calif.

26 Mar 2012

FDA approves Teva's QNASL nasal aerosol corticosteroid

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved QNASL Nasal Aerosol, a new, "dry" nasal aerosol corticosteroid that treats seasonal nasal and year-round nasal allergy symptoms in adults and adolescents 12 years of age and older.

26 Mar 2012

CCTA identifies more patients with coronary artery disease

Coronary CT angiography (CCTA) scans allow doctors to determine safely and more quickly which patients at low-to intermediate-risk for a heart attack can be discharged from hospital emergency departments (EDs) than traditional methods, according to the results of a large, multicenter American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) trial published online today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

26 Mar 2012

Percutaneous cryoablation freezes and destroys breast cancer tumors

Individuals fighting metastatic breast cancer, where the disease has progressed to other areas of the body, may finally have another weapon in their arsenal: percutaneous cryoablation.

26 Mar 2012