No description available.

Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) is an extremely debilitating condition, characterized by chronic pain with associated trophic changes. The 1st description of this condition dates back to 1864. The condition has been variously described over the years as “causalgia”, “Sudeck’s dystrophy” and “reflex sympathetic dystrophy”. In 1993 the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) introduced the term Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) with diagnostic criteria that are currently used. CRPS was subdivided into type I and type II. CRPS type I is diagnosed when there is no obvious nerve injury, whereas CRPS type II refers to cases with nerve injury. It follows that the present diagnostic criteria depend solely on meticulous history and physical examination without any confirmation by specific gold standard tests. The pathophysiology of this pain syndrome is poorly understood; however there is growing evidence for an inflammatory or sympathetic cause. It is therefore not surprising that there is no uniform approach to its management. Therapy is often based on a multi-disciplinary team approach with use of non –pharmacological therapy (physiotherapy and occupational therapy), pharmacological therapy (analgesics, neuroleptics, bone metabolism drugs), and invasive therapy (stellate ganglion blocks and sympathectomy). This review acknowledges the humble beginnings of this condition, and provides an understanding for the evolution of its terminology. It objectively reviews the current IASP diagnostic criteria, challenging its efficacy and sensitivity. Despite its pathophysiology remaining an enigma, the latest pathophysiological advances are reviewed in the endeavour to better understand this condition and enhance treatment options. The role of surgical sympathectomy for this condition is reviewed, highlighting its importance and underappreciated success in the management of CRPS. / Thesis (M.Med.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

Children are often required to repeatedly undergo painful medical procedures (e.g. immunizations) and their memories for pain are predictive of their health behaviours across the lifespan. Although trait anxiety has been shown to influence pain memories, little is known about the impact of state anxiety, and the influence of stable anxiety-related variables (e.g., anxiety sensitivity), on children’s memories for pain. Furthermore, although memory is often implicated in children’s reactions to future pain, there is a dearth of research directly examining the relationship between the two. The current dissertation project involved two studies. The first study investigated the impact of experimentally manipulated state anxiety, and the influence of anxiety-related variables, on children’s memories for a novel pain experience. The second study examined the influence of children’s pain memories on a subsequent pain experience. In Study 1, one hundred ten children (60 boys; 50 girls) between the ages of 8 and 12 years (Mage = 9.45 years, SD = 1.35) were randomly assigned to complete either a state anxiety induction task or a control task. Then, children completed a laboratory pain task (the cold pressor task) and provided pain ratings. Children also completed measures of state anxiety and stable anxiety-related variables. Two weeks following the laboratory visit, children were contacted by telephone and provided pain ratings based on their memories of the initial pain experience, as well as their expectancies about future pain. Results showed that children in the state anxiety induction group did not have more negative pain memories (i.e., they did not recall higher levels of pain) than children in the control group. However, irrespective of group assignment, children who had higher levels of state anxiety had more negative memories of pain intensity and pain-related fear than children with lower levels of state anxiety. Furthermore, state anxiety was a unique predictor of children’s pain memories over and above the influences of sex, stable anxiety-related variables, and experienced pain intensity and pain-related fear. Stable anxiety-related variables (anxiety sensitivity and trait anxiety) were also significant predictors of recalled pain-related fear. In Study 2, the same children once again completed the pain task and provided pain ratings one month following the initial laboratory visit. Results revealed that children’s memory of pain intensity was a better predictor of subsequent pain reporting than their actual initial experience of pain intensity; in fact, children’s pain memories mediated the relationship between reporting of pain intensity at Lab Session 1 and Lab Session 2. Children who had negatively estimated pain memories developed expectations of greater pain prior to a subsequent pain experience and showed greater increases in pain ratings over time than children who had accurate and positively estimated pain memories. Overall, these data highlight the importance of anxiety in the development of children’s memories for pain and present a model of acute pain memories that add to the growing literature on pain memories across development. Results also highlight the powerful influence of pain memories on healthy children’s pain expectancies and subsequent pain experiences, and extend predictive models of subsequent pain reporting to childhood.

No description available.

How to achieve a quality improvement for individual post-operative pain treatment is an important issue. PAIN-OUT is a multinational research project and its aim is to build functional software for clinicians with post-operative pain management. This paper presents a specification for a UI that is intended for physicians to intuitively access the database and to help them in decision making for the postoperative pain treatment. The interface design is tailored for PAIN-OUT data and combines the UI design knowledge and the physicians’ need. In order to meet the needs, and to implement the design into current PAIN-OUT computer aided system, the mockup design is developed as a HTML’s prototype. To verify the design’s performance, we connect the case library and the interface design in Matlab to see the work out. We also made a small demonstration video for the design and asked the expert from PAIN-OUT to offer some professional opinions.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2006. / "December 2006." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 61-72). Online version available on the World Wide Web. Library also has microfilm. Ann Arbor, Mich. : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [2006]. 1 microfilm reel ; 35 mm.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2005. / Härtill 6 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Linköping : Univ., 2001. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2007. Graduate Programme in Higher Education. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 31-38). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR31977

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Virginia, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 122-133). Also available online through Digital Dissertations.