Back pain from the epidemiological point of view

Summary In the last decades back pain has reached dramatic proportions in industrialized countries. Disorders of the back are nowadays the leading cause of direct and indirect health care costs. Accurate prevalence estimates are needed to serve as a basis for health care evaluations. A review of epidemiologic studies in the general population reveals that back pain has reached a prevalence of 40 % for current pain. 7 to 18 % are “frequently”, “often”, “daily” or “constantly” affected. 75 % of the adult population suffers from back pain during the last year. 80 to 90 % of the adult population in industrialized countries experience back pain ever. Gender specific differences are only present in severe, chronic forms which are more often experienced by women. Back pain has a prevalence maximum at 50 to 64 years. Older persons display lower prevalence estimates. The prevalence maximum in men is one decade earlier than in women. There are several potential explanations for this prevalence pattern that are discussed in the article. Back pain can be classified by location, temporal characteristics, pain intensity and pain history. Currently, for none of these dimensions generally accepted, uniformly employed and validated definitions are available. In most of the industrialized countries back pain is one of the most expensive symptoms. 75–90 % of the direct and indirect health care costs were caused by those 5–10 % of patients who are disabled. As predictors of back pain a history of back pain and job satisfaction play by far a more important role than the extensively studied mechanical factors. For a first episode of back pain the prognosis is favorable. If the pain persist for more than three months the prognosis is unfavorable. After six months of absenteeism because of back pain more than half of the afflicted never return to work. Rarely back pain is present as a single symptom. In more than 80 % back pain is associated with pain in at least one joint. It remains to be studied if back pain may be viewed as an entity or as part of a more complex pain syndrome.      

无张力疝修补术后顽固性疼痛原因和对策

目的 探讨无张力疝修补术后的顽固性疼痛病因及预防治疗。方法 将同期无张力疝修补术与传统的腹股沟疝修补方法进行比较。结果 无张力疝修补术后的顽固性疼痛率为9．02％(12／133)，传统的腹股沟疝修补方法疼痛率为8．61％(18／209)。无张力疝修补与传统的腹股沟疝修补相比，术后顽固性疼痛的发生率差异无显著性(P＞0．05)。结论 无张力疝修补并不一定减少传统的腹股沟疝修补术后顽固性疼痛，手术规范操作是预防的关键，治疗应先保守治疗，无效再考虑手术治疗。     

俯卧拍背法缓解胆绞痛的临床观察及护理

本文采用俯卧拍背法缓解胆绞痛４１例，其中２３例经此法治疗后疼痛立即消失（５６．１％）；１５例明显缓解（３６．６％）；３例缓解不明显（７．３％）。具有操作简便、安全，易被患者接受，值得推广。     

控制性降压在临床麻醉中的应用进展

控制性低血压是指在某些手术麻醉期间，用药物等方法降低血压，以达到减少手术野出血，便于手术操作的一种方法，通常采用血管扩张剂，钙通道阻断剂及麻醉来控制血压，现就这一领域的研究进展作一综述。     

Retardation of pain development: a case of recovery from congenital insensitivity to pain

Congenital analgesia is a rare genetic disorder. We report here that a 12-year-old boy was able to recover from congenital insensitivity to pain. Neurological examinations revealed that there was a 'stocking' distribution of pain decrement on the lower extremities under the patient's knee joints. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) of his brain showed gyrus thinning with sulcus widening at both sides of the parietal lobe. Southern blot hybridization probed with cDNAs of various opioid receptors did not detect any significant abnormality. Our results suggest that this rare case may not be genetically determined.     

Survey of postoperative analgesia following ambulatory surgery

Background: The quality of pain relief during the first 48 hours following ambulatory surgery has been poorly documented. This questionnaire study was performed to evaluate the nature and severity of pain after the patient leaves the hospital. Methods: 1100 patients in the age group 5–88 years who underwent ambulatory surgery during a period of 6months were asked to complete a questionnaire 48 h after the end of the operation. In thecase of children, parents were asked to complete a similar questionnaire. The questions were related to pain experienced during the first 48 h after surgery and to the nature andseverity of postoperative complications. Results: A total of 1035 out of the 1100 patients returned the questionnaire, 94.1%. Overall the majority (65%) of patients had only mild pain at home; however, patients undergoing certain types of surgery had moderate-to-severe pain: inguinal hernia surgery (62% patients), orthopaedic surgery (41%), hand surgery (37%) and varicose vein surgery (36%). In these patients the severity of pain did not decrease during the 2-day study period. About 10% patients had more severe pain than they had anticipated, and 20% had difficulty in sleeping at night due to severe pain. Despite this, over 95% of patients were satisfied with man-agement of postoperative pain. Nausea (20%), tiredness (20%) and vomiting (8%) were the commonest complications reported during the first 48 h. A significant association was found between the administration of a general anaesthetic and the incidence of nausea postoperatively. A large number of patients were alone at home after the operation (28.4%); some (3.8%) had no access to a relative or friend in case of need. Conclusion: Our results show that about 35% of day-surgery patients experience moderate-to-severe pain at home in spite of analgesic medication. About 20% of patients had sleep problems due to severe pain. However, only 5% of patients were dissatisfied. Better analgesic techniques are necessary for patients undergoing certain types of surgery. Patient information and follow-up routines need to be improved.     

The effect of fibrin sealant haemostasis on post-operative pain in tonsillectomy

Pain following tonsillectomy is an important problem. It is caused by the surgical trauma of excision and haemostasis. Numerous surgical and pharmacological solutions have been tried, with disappointing results. Fibrin sealant is a widely used atraumatic haemostatic agent. This study aims to determine whether tonsillectomy with fibrin sealant haemostasis results in less post-operative pain than that with the conventional technique of diathermy. Fifty consecutive adult patients undergoing tonsillectomy were prospectively studied. They were randomized to receive either fibrin sealant or diathermy haemostasis. Other pain variables were controlled. Pain was measured by a visual linear analogue scale and inter-incisor distance on both the day of operation and the first post-operative day. The patients and pain measurer were blind to the randomization. The results showed that tonsillectomy with fibrin sealant haemostasis was significantly (P < 0.05) less painful than that with diathermy on both days studied and by both methods of pain measurement     

椎管内转移癌病人氨甲喋呤配伍高渗盐水硬膜外灌注治疗顽固性疼痛的临床探讨

１０例椎管内转移癌病人曾长期使用大剂量镇痛药难以奏效，而少数病例便采用硬膜外腔注射吗啡２～４ｍｇ疼痛缓解仅１ｈ。采用硬膜外腔灌注氨甲喋呤配伍高渗盐水，使抗癌药直接与肿瘤接触，几分钟内杀死癌细胞，加之高渗盐水能促使肿瘤和神经干脱水，肿瘤体积缩小和破坏，改善局部动脉缺血和组织水肿，从而减轻或消除肿瘤对神经根的压迫，缓解和消除神经痛。