Is There a Legitimate Role for the Therapeutic Use of Cannabinoids for Symptom Management in Chronic Kidney Disease?

Chronic pain is a common and debilitating symptom experienced in the context of numerous other physical and emotional symptoms by many patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Management of pain with opioids in CKD can be problematic given the prominence of adverse effects of opioids in CKD, which may exacerbate symptoms, such as nausea, anorexia, pruritus, and insomnia, all of which impact negatively on patients' health-related quality of life. Novel therapeutic approaches for pain and symptom management in CKD are required. Recent research in the area of cannabinoids (CBs) is legitimizing the use of cannabis-based medicine. In this review, we describe the symptom burden borne by patients with CKD and review some of the key basic science and clinical literature to evaluate the potential use of CBs for the management of overall symptom burden in CKD.     

Does Pain Cause the Perception of Fatigue in Patients with Chronic Pain? Findings from Studies for Management of Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathic Pain with Duloxetine

A major issue in pain literature is whether an etiological association between pain, sleep, and vitality exists. We utilized data from clinical trials of duloxetine for management of diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain (DPNP) to investigate these associations. Data were pooled from 3 double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, 12-week trials of patients without mood disorder ( N  =  1,139). After excluding 442 patients who reported maximum vitality at baseline, experienced treatment-emergent somnolence, asthenia or fatigue, or were taking sedating concomitant medications or duloxetine 20 mg/day, 697 were included in the analysis. Efficacy measures included weekly mean scores for average daily and night pain, pain interference with sleep, and vitality. Baseline to end point mean improvements in daily and night pain, Brief Pain Inventory sleep interference, and vitality were significantly superior for duloxetine compared with placebo ( P  ≤ 0.001). Correlations between changes in daily and night pain, and sleep interference with vitality changes were −0.34, −0.32, and −0.28, respectively ( P  < 0.001). The direct effect of treatment on change in vitality was statistically significant (68%, P  = 0.010) when assessed in an indirect manner through change in sleep interference alone but not in daily or night pain solely. Path analyses suggested vitality improvement in patients with chronic pain may be secondary to improvement in pain by duloxetine. Results do not prove pain causes fatigue, but indicate in DPNP patients with fatigue that treatment of pain can improve perception of improvement in fatigue. Thus, improvement of pain may be important in the context of trying to improve fatigue in DPNP patients.     

Opioid Rotation in the Management of Chronic Pain: Where Is the Evidence?

The management of chronic pain remains a challenge because of its complexity and unpredictable response to pharmacological treatment. In addition, accurate pain management may be hindered by the prejudice of physicians and patients that strong opioids, classified as step 3 medications in the World Health Organization ladder for cancer pain management, are reserved for the end stage of life. Recent information indicates the potential value of strong opioids in the treatment of chronic nonmalignant pain. There are, up until now, insufficient data to provide indications about which opioid to use to initiate treatment or the dose to be used for any specific pain syndrome. The strong inter‐patient variability in opioid receptor response and in the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic behavior of strong opioids justifies an individual selection of the appropriate opioid and stepwise dose titration. Clinical experience shows that switching from one opioid to another may optimize pain control while maintaining an acceptable side effect profile or even improving the side effects. This treatment strategy, described as opioid rotation or switch, requires a dose calculation for the newly started opioid. Currently, conversion tables and equianalgesic doses are available. However, those recommendations are often based on data derived from studies designed to evaluate acute pain relief, and sometimes on single dose studies, which reduces this information to the level of an indication. In daily practice, the clinician needs to titrate the optimal dose during the opioid rotation from a reduced calculated dose, based on the clinical response of the patient. Further research and studies are needed to optimize the equianalgesic dosing tables.     

Is Chronic Pain a Disease?

It was not until the twentieth century that pain was considered a disease. Before that it was managed medically as a symptom. The motivations for declaring chronic pain a disease, whether of the body or of the brain, include increasing its legitimacy as clinical problem and research focus worthy of attention from healthcare and research organizations alike. But 1 problem with disease concepts is that having a disease favors medical solutions and tends to reduce patient participation. We argue that chronic pain, particularly chronic primary pain (recently designated a first tier pain diagnosis in International Diagnostic Codes 11), is a learned state that is not intransigent even if it has biological correlates. Chronic pain is sometimes a symptom, and may sometimes be its own disease. But here we question the value of a disease focus for much of chronic pain for which patient involvement is essential, and which may need a much broader societal approach than is suggested by the disease designation.PerspectiveThis article examines whether designating chronic pain a disease of the body or brain is helpful or harmful to patients. Can the disease designation help advance treatment, and is it needed to achieve future therapeutic breakthrough? Or does it make patients over-reliant on medical intervention and reduce their engagement in the process of recovery?     

Is There Gender Discrimination in Acute Renal Colic Pain Management? A Retrospective Analysis in an Emergency Department Setting

BackgroundPain is a widespread problem, affecting both men and women; studies have found that women in the emergency department receive analgesic medication and opioids less often compared with men.AimsThe aim of this study was to examine the administration and management of analgesics by the medical/paramedical staff in relation to the patients' gender, and thereby to examine the extent of gender discrimination in treating pain.DesignThis is a single-center retrospective cohort study that included 824 patients.SettingsEmergency department of tertiary hospital in Israel.Participants/SubjectsThe patients stratified by gender to compare pain treatments and waiting times between men and women in renal colic complaint.MethodsAs an acute pain model, we used renal colic with a nephrolithiasis diagnosis confirmed by imaging. We recorded pain level by Visual Analog Scale (VAS) scores and number of VAS examinations. Time intervals were calculated between admissions to different stations in the emergency department. We recorded the number of analgesic drugs administered, type of drugs prescribed, and drug class (opioids or others).ResultsA total of 824 patients (414 women and 410 men) participated. There were no significant differences in age, ethnicity, and laboratory findings. VAS assessments were higher in men than in women (6.43 versus 5.90, p = .001, respectively). More men than women received analgesics (68.8% versus 62.1%, p = .04, respectively) and opioids were prescribed more often for men than for women (48.3 versus 35.7%, p = .001). The number of drugs prescribed per patient was also higher in men compared with women (1.06 versus 0.93, p = .03). A significant difference was found in waiting time length from admission to medical examination between non-Jewish women and Jewish women.ConclusionsWe found differences in pain management between genders, which could be interpreted as gender discrimination. Yet these differences could also be attributed to other factors not based on gender discrimination but rather on gender differences.     

Evidence for Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation in the Management of Low Back Pain?

Abstract

Low back pain is a huge burden on society and the health care system, and cost the UK over £1.5 billion in 1998 alone. One of the modalities available to treat this condition is transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), a form of electrotherapy that is inexpensive and widely used by clinicians and patients alike for many conditions including pain relief. The aim of this review was to determine whether TENS is an effective treatment for pain relief in people with low back pain. This paper outlines the evidence for the use of TENS for low back pain, and recommends that future research should try to map specific TENS parameters with each of the different types of low back pain.     

Is There a Role for Ivabradine in the Contemporary Management of Patients with Chronic Heart Failure in Academic and Community Heart Failure Clinics in Canada?

Introduction

In patients with heart failure (HF) and reduced ejection fraction, increased heart rate (HR) is an independent risk factor for adverse outcomes. In systolic HF treatment with the If inhibitor ivabradine trial (SHIFT), Ivabradine improved survival when added to conventional treatment including β-blockers. However, the extent of benefit in the real world is unclear. We examined the characteristics of patients on guideline-directed therapy and determined who had SHIFT-like characteristics.

Methods

A total of 1096 patients with chronic HF were reviewed from June 2014 to April 2015 in two HF clinics in Toronto: an academic institution (AI), and a community hospital (CH) clinic. SHIFT-like characteristics [left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≤35%; sinus rhythm; and HR ≥ 70 bpm] were described.

Results

For all patients, mean age was 75 ± 13 years, overall LVEF was 44 ± 15%, AI less than CH (41.9 ± 14.0% vs. 45.7 ± 15.0%; p < 0.0001). More than two-thirds of patients in both groups were on β-blockers; with less than one-third at target dose. The proportion of patients with SHIFT-like characteristics was 8.4% AI and 11.7% CH, respectively (p = 0.0658).

Conclusion

In HF clinics from both academic and community hospitals in Toronto, up-titration in the dose of β-blockers and other guideline therapy can be improved on. A small proportion of patients with HF and SHIFT-like characteristics may potentially benefit from the addition of Ivabradine, just approved in Canada; this number will be further reduced if target dosage for β-blockers is achieved.

Funding

Servier Inc.

     

Pain Management Practices for Lumbar Punctures: Are We Consistent?

In most pediatric oncology centers across Canada, it is now standard practice for children to be sedated for lumbar punctures (LPs). Although the use of sedation for LPs is well established in the pediatric oncology population, its use in other hospital units is not well documented. A patient record audit was completed to understand the types of pain management strategies used for LPs performed throughout a pediatric hospital. Fifty-nine patients aged between 3 days and 17 years underwent a total of 67 LPs. Pain management strategies varied among the different patient service units. Oncology patients were consistently sedated for an LP, whereas patients in the emergency department were less likely to be given any type of sedation. Recommendations are aimed at providing consistent best practice pain management for LPs throughout the hospital.     

Cancer Pain Emergencies: Is There a Role for Radiation Therapy?

Emergent cancer pain is a difficult entity to manage. Radiation therapy potentially may be used for its treatment. Several key issues must be addressed in patients with emergent cancer pain before initiating radiation. These issues include whether the necessary diagnostic information is available, whether the tumor will respond rapidly to radiation, and whether there are additional patient factors that will affect treatment. If these questions have been addressed, it is more likely that a successful outcome will be obtained if radiation therapy is used for the management of emergent cancer pain.     

The Effects of Self–Pain Management on the Intensity of Pain and Pain Management Methods in Arthritic Patients

The aims of this study were to investigate the effects of pain management education on the intensity of pain and frequency of utilization of pain management methods in two groups of patients with arthritis of different pathogenesis and clinical features, and to compare whether a significant difference existed between the two groups. The study was carried out between September 2007 and June 2008 on 30 female patients with gonarthrosis and 30 female patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) followed at the rheumatology outpatient clinic of a university hospital. Data on sociodemographic characteristics and those related with the illness were collected using a special survey. Each patient was given information about the features, causes, and treatment of the arthritis and how to cope with pain, emphasizing the importance of pain management methods. The intensity of pain and efficacy of pain management methods were assessed using the McGill Pain Questionnaire and the Pain Management Inventory at baseline and the second and sixth weeks after the education. The SPSS (v15.0) statistical package was used for statistical analysis. After education, significant improvements in pain intensity scores compared with baseline scores were observed in both groups (p < .05), and there was no significant difference between the RA and gonarthrosis groups. Among the various pain management methods, the education program led to significantly more utilization of massaging the painful area, exercising, and using complementary methods to control stress in both groups of patients, and there was no significant difference between the groups. In conclusion, the pain management education given in this study alleviated the intensity of pain and significantly increased the use of some pain management methods in both gonarthrosis and RA cases.