Quality Indicators (QI) of Acute Pain after Surgery in European Countries.

OBJECTIVES: It is common practice to use pain quality indicators (QI) to accurately assess the medical care situation of patients. This literature review identifies the status quo of acute pain QI among adult inpatients. DATA SOURCES: Studies published in English or German were identified using a systematic search on CINAHL, Cochrane Library, PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar from 01/2007 to 02/2018. Additional pain management journals, conference proceedings, and websites of health organizations and pain societies were manually screened. Studies about postoperative pain in adults (≥18 years) during inpatient stay after all types of surgery in Europe were included in this review. REVIEW/ANALYSIS METHODS: The identified study results were categorized into structural, process, and outcome indicators based on Donabedian's framework of evaluating care quality. RESULTS: The search identified 319 citations, of which 20 studies used structure, process, and outcome data including 180,988 patients and 1,970 health care professionals to gain insight into the quality of acute pain management. Overall, 80% used patient surveys to collect data. National data on pain management are reported in five European studies (France [2], the Netherlands, Spain, and Austria). CONCLUSIONS: European studies comprehensively comparing acute pain management results are currently missing. Thus, this report highlights the need to develop consensus-based quality indicators in management of acute pain, which take into account both the methodologic quality and the relevance to clinical practice.

The effect of adjuvant oral application of honey in the management of postoperative pain after tonsillectomy in adults: A pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the effect of adjuvant oral application of honey for treating postoperative pain after tonsillectomy. DESIGN: Single centre prospective cohort study. SETTING: Two cohorts of patients after tonsillectomy. PARTICIPANTS: 56 patients treated with honey 8 times per day (honey group), 18 patients treated without honey (control group); baseline analgesia were non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) or coxibs; opioids were used as pro re nata (PRN) medication; mean age 34.4 ± 13.4 years; 36% women. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: On first to fifth postoperative day, patients rated their pain using the validated questionnaire of the German-wide project Quality Improvement in Postoperative Pain Treatment (QUIPS) including a numeric rating scale (NRS, 0-10) for determination of patient's pain. QUIPS allows standardized assessment of patients' characteristics andpain-associated patient-reported outcomes (PROs). The influence of preoperative and postoperative parameters on patients' postoperative pain were estimated by univariate and multivariate statistical analysis. RESULTS: Average pain in activity in the control group was greater than 4 (NRS 4.4 ± 2.4) during the first five postoperative days, with a renewed increase in pain intensity on the fifth day (4.3 ± 2.5). In the honey group, the pain in activity decreased without any further pain increase and was only higher than 4 on the first three postoperative days (4.3 ± 2.1, all p>0.05). However; neither minimal nor maximal pain were significantly different between both groups on the first postoperative day (p = 0.217, p = 0.980). Over the five postoperative days, the minimal and maximal pain in the honey group decreased continuously and faster than in the control group. With regard to pain-related impairments on the first day, the honey group reported less pain-related sleep disturbance (p = 0.026), as well as significantly fewer episodes of postoperative oral bleeding (p = 0.028) than the control group. Patients without honey consumption had on the first and fifth postoperative day a higher risk of increased minimal pain (OR = -2.424, CI = -4.075 --0.385). Gender was an independent factor for compliance of honey consumption on the second postoperative day (p = 0.037). Men had a lower probability for compliance of honey consumption (OR = -0.288, CI = -2.863 --0.090). CONCLUSION: There was a trend of reduced postoperative pain after oral honey application. Honey also seems to reduce pain-related impairments. The need for additional opioids on the first day could be reduced. A larger controlled trial is now needed to varify the effect of honey on pain after tonsillectomy. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: German Clinical Trials Register DRKS00006153. The authors confirm that all ongoing and related trials for this drug/intervention are registered.

[Postoperative pain therapy after total knee arthroplasty : Is the local infiltration anesthesia the best therapy?] / Schmerz nach Knietotalendoprothese : Ist die lokale Infiltrationsanästhesie die beste Therapieoption?

BACKGROUND: Optimal perioperative pain management after total knee arthroplasty is necessary to promote mobilization and achieve early rehabilitation. The aim of this study was to determine whether local infiltration anesthesia (LIA) is the better postoperative pain therapy compared to a femoral nerve block (FNB) or a sciatic nerve block (SNB) using routine data. METHODS: Data from the acute pain registry "Qualitätsverbesserung in der postoperativen Schmerztherapie" (QUIPS) were analyzed. The endpoints included postoperative maximal pain, frequency of pain-related movement impairment, nausea, and number of patients requesting opioids postoperatively. The influence of regional anesthesia in addition to general anesthesia was analyzed in 5 groups. RESULTS: In total, the data of 8754 patients could be examined. It was found that the addition of LIA (ß = -0.087 p = 0.000) or FNB (ß = -0.137 p = 0.000) to general anesthesia is associated with a small but significant reduction of postoperative maximum pain. Between LIA, FNB, and SNB no relevant differences could be detected. DISCUSSION: The pain reduction achieved by adding LIA or FNB in patients after total knee arthroplasty is relatively small. Comparison of techniques is hindered as there exists no widely accepted standard for performing LIAs yet.

Multimodal analgesia in moderate-to-severe pain: a role for a new fixed combination of dexketoprofen and tramadol.

BACKGROUND: Untreated and under-treated pain represent one of the most pervasive health problems, which is worsening as the population ages and accrues risk for pain. Multiple treatment options are available, most of which have one mechanism of action, and cannot be prescribed at unlimited doses due to the ceiling of efficacy and/or safety concerns. Another limitation of single-agent analgesia is that, in general, pain is due to multiple causes. Combining drugs from different classes, with different and complementary mechanism(s) of action, provides a better opportunity for effective analgesia at reduced doses of individual agents. Therefore, there is a potential reduction of adverse events, often dose-related. Analgesic combinations are recommended by several organizations and are used in clinical practice. Provided the two agents are combined in a fixed-dose ratio, the resulting medication may offer advantages over extemporaneous combinations. CONCLUSIONS: Dexketoprofen/tramadol (25 mg/75 mg) is a new oral fixed-dose combination offering a comprehensive multimodal approach to moderate-to-severe acute pain that encompasses central analgesic action, peripheral analgesic effect and anti-inflammatory activity, together with a good tolerability profile. The analgesic efficacy of dexketoprofen/tramadol combination is complemented by a favorable pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profile, characterized by rapid onset and long duration of action. This has been well documented in both somatic- and visceral-pain human models. This review discusses the available clinical evidence and the future possible applications of dexketoprofen/tramadol fixed-dose combination that may play an important role in the management of moderate-to-severe acute pain.

Differences in somatosensory and motor improvement during temporary functional deafferentation in stroke patients and healthy subjects.

Temporary functional deafferentation is of interest to become an additional tool in neurorehabilitative treatments. Temporary functional deafferentation is known to improve sensory and motor outcomes in chronic stroke patients and healthy subjects. The present study soughts to indicate differences in the efficiency of pharmacologically induced temporary functional deafferentation between chronic stroke patients and matched healthy subjects. 46 chronic stroke patients and 20 age- and gender-matched healthy subjects were deafferented on one forearm by an anesthetic cream. Somatosensory performance was assessed using von-Frey Hair testing and Grating orientation task; motor performance was assessed by means of a shape-sorter-drum task. Grating orientation task and shape-sorter-drum task were significantly improved during temporary functional deafferentation in stroke patients but not in healthy subjects. Von-Frey Hair testing revealed no improvement of absolute tactile thresholds during temporary functional deafferentation in both groups. Furthermore, the stroke patients showed deficits at baseline measurement in all assessments except the von-Frey Hair test. Temporary functional deafferentation of a forearm by an anesthetic cream results in improvements of motor performance and somatosensory discrimination in stroke patients but not in healthy subjects. Therefore, it is reasonable to test in a next step whether temporary functional deafferentation might become an additional tool in motor rehabilitation of post stroke patients.

The role of acupuncture and transcutaneous-electrical nerve stimulation for postoperative pain control.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Both patients and care providers are concerned about the adverse events associated with pharmaceutical approaches used in postoperative pain management. Acupuncture and transcutaneous-electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) are complementary treatment techniques and are very popular in the management of a variety of painful conditions. Therefore, their use might help to reduce opioid requirements and decrease the incidence of medication-related adverse events. The aim of this review is to summarize the latest findings on the use of acupuncture and TENS in postoperative pain management. RECENT FINDINGS: The number of recent high-quality trials on acupuncture and TENS in postoperative pain is limited. Evidence of efficacy in acupuncture studies is contradictory although some high-quality studies clearly found positive effects. Differences in setting and methodology might explain the variability in the results. Findings of the few recent trials using TENS are consistently positive. SUMMARY: Evidence of efficacy in recent studies on acupuncture and TENS in management of postoperative pain is limited. However, some high-quality studies clearly show positive results for both methodologies. As these techniques cause no harm, their use as adjunct to conventional pharmaceutical approaches could be considered particularly for patients in whom conventional techniques fail and/or are accompanied by severe medication-related adverse events.

Comparison of orally administered cannabis extract and delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol in treating patients with cancer-related anorexia-cachexia syndrome: a multicenter, phase III, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial from the Cannabis-In-Cachexia-Study-Group.

PURPOSE: To compare the effects of cannabis extract (CE), delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and placebo (PL) on appetite and quality of life (QOL) in patients with cancer-related anorexia-cachexia syndrome (CACS). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Adult patients with advanced cancer, CACS, weight loss (> or = 5% over 6 months), and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status (PS) < or = 2 were randomly assigned (2:2:1) to receive CE (standardized for 2.5 mg THC and 1 mg cannabidiol) or THC (2.5 mg) or PL orally, twice daily for 6 weeks. Appetite, mood, and nausea were monitored daily with a visual analog scale (VAS); QOL was assessed with the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire C30 (composite score: questions 29 and 30). Cannabinoid-related toxicity was assessed every 2 weeks. RESULTS: Of 289 patients screened, 243 were randomly assigned and 164 (CE, 66 of 95 patients; THC, 65 of 100 patients; and PL, 33 of 48 patients) completed treatment. At baseline, groups were comparable for age (mean, 61 years), sex (54% men), weight loss (32% > or = 10%), PS (13% ECOG = 2), antineoplastic treatment (50%), appetite (mean VAS score, 31/100 mm), and QOL (mean score, 30/100). Intent-to-treat analysis showed no significant differences between the three arms for appetite, QOL, or cannabinoid-related toxicity. Increased appetite was reported by 73%, 58%, and 69% of patients receiving CE, THC, or PL, respectively. An independent data review board recommended termination of recruitment because of insufficient differences between study arms. CONCLUSION: CE at the oral dose administered was well tolerated by these patients with CACS. No differences in patients' appetite or QOL were found either between CE, THC, and PL or between CE and THC at the dosages investigated.

Acupuncture decreases somatosensory evoked potential amplitudes to noxious stimuli in anesthetized volunteers.

UNLABELLED: The effect of acupuncture on pain perception is controversial. Because late amplitudes of somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) to noxious stimuli are thought to correlate with the subjective experience of pain intensity, we designed this study to detect changes of these SEPs before and after acupuncture in a double-blinded fashion. Sixteen volunteers were anesthetized by propofol and exposed to painful electric stimuli to the right forefinger. Then, blinded to the research team, the acupuncture group (n = 8) was treated with electric needle acupuncture over 15 min at analgesic points of the leg, whereas the sham group (n = 8) received no treatment. Thereafter, nociceptive stimulation was repeated. SEPs were recorded during each noxious stimulation from the vertex Cz, and latencies and amplitudes of the N150 and P260 components were analyzed by analysis of variance. P260 amplitudes decreased from 4.40 +/- 2.76 microV (mean +/- SD) before treatment to 1.67 +/- 1.21 microV after treatment (P < 0.05), whereas amplitudes of the sham group remained unchanged (2.64 +/- 0.94 microV before versus 2.54 +/- 1.54 microV after treatment). In conclusion, this double-blinded study demonstrated that electric needle acupuncture, as compared with sham treatment, significantly decreased the magnitudes of late SEP amplitudes with electrical noxious stimulation in anesthetized subjects, suggesting a specific analgesic effect of acupuncture. IMPLICATIONS: This double-blinded study demonstrates that electric needle acupuncture, as compared with sham treatment, significantly decreases the magnitudes of late somatosensory evoked potential amplitudes with electrical noxious stimulation in anesthetized subjects, suggesting a specific analgesic effect of acupuncture.