The CanPain SCI Clinical Practice Guidelines for Rehabilitation Management of Neuropathic Pain after Spinal Cord: introduction, methodology and recommendation overview.

STUDY DESIGN: Clinical practice guidelines. OBJECTIVES: The objective was to develop the first Canadian clinical practice guidelines for the management of neuropathic pain in people with spinal cord injury (SCI). SETTING: The guidelines are relevant for inpatient and outpatient SCI rehabilitation settings in Canada. METHODS: The guidelines were developed in accordance with the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II tool. A Steering Committee and Working Group reviewed the relevant evidence on neuropathic pain management (encompassing screening and diagnosis, treatment and models of care) after SCI. The quality of evidence was scored using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE). A consensus process was followed to achieve agreement on recommendations and clinical considerations. RESULTS: The Working Group developed 12 recommendations for screening and diagnosis, 12 recommendations for treatment and 5 recommendations for models of care. Important clinical considerations accompany each recommendation. CONCLUSIONS: The Working Group recommendations for the management of neuropathic pain after SCI should be used to inform practice.

The CanPain SCI Clinical Practice Guidelines for Rehabilitation Management of Neuropathic Pain after Spinal Cord: Recommendations for treatment.

STUDY DESIGN: Clinical practice guidelines. OBJECTIVES: To develop the first Canadian clinical practice guidelines for treatment of neuropathic pain in people with spinal cord injury (SCI). SETTING: The guidelines are relevant for inpatient and outpatient SCI rehabilitation settings in Canada. METHODS: The CanPainSCI Working Group reviewed the evidence for different treatment options and achieved consensus. The Working Group then developed clinical considerations for each recommendation. Recommendations for research are also included. RESULTS: Twelve recommendations were developed for the management of neuropathic pain after SCI. The recommendations address both pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatment modalities. CONCLUSIONS: An expert Working Group developed recommendations for the treatment of neuropathic pain after SCI that should be used to inform practice.

The CanPain SCI Clinical Practice Guideline for Rehabilitation Management of Neuropathic Pain after Spinal Cord: recommendations for model systems of care.

STUDY DESIGN: Clinical practice guidelines. OBJECTIVES: The project objectives were to develop the first Canadian recommendations on a model of care for the management of at- and below-level neuropathic pain in people with spinal cord injury (SCI). SETTING: The guidelines are relevant for inpatient and outpatient SCI rehabilitation settings in Canada. METHODS: On the basis of a review of the Accreditation Canada standards, the Steering Committee developed questions to guide the CanPainSCI Working Group when developing the recommendations. The Working Group agreed on recommendations through a consensus process. RESULTS: The Working Group developed five recommendations for the organization of neuropathic pain rehabilitation care in people with SCI. CONCLUSIONS: The Working Group recommendations for a model of care for at- and below-level neuropathic pain after SCI should be used to inform clinical practice.

The CanPain SCI Clinical Practice Guidelines for Rehabilitation Management of Neuropathic Pain after Spinal Cord: screening and diagnosis recommendations.

STUDY DESIGN: Clinical practice guidelines. OBJECTIVES: To develop the first Canadian clinical practice guidelines for screening and diagnosis of neuropathic pain in people with spinal cord injury (SCI). SETTING: The guidelines are relevant for inpatient and outpatient SCI rehabilitation settings in Canada. METHODS: The CanPainSCI Working Group reviewed evidence to address clinical questions regarding screening and diagnosis of neuropathic pain after SCI. A consensus process was followed to achieve agreement on recommendations and clinical considerations. RESULTS: Twelve recommendations, based on expert consensus, were developed for the screening and diagnosis of neuropathic pain after SCI. The recommendations address methods for assessment, documentation tools, team member accountability, frequency of screening and considerations for diagnostic investigation. Important clinical considerations accompany each recommendation. CONCLUSIONS: The expert Working Group developed recommendations for the screening and diagnosis of neuropathic pain after SCI that should be used to inform practice.

Effect of unilateral contraction of hand muscles on perceiver biases in the perception of chimeric and neutral faces.

Judgements of chimeric faces (half sad, half happy) showed a strong negative bias when the left face was negative. Contractions of the right hand reduced this bias but left hand contractions had no effect. The left positive faces elicited weak positive response biases that were not strongly affected by either contraction. Faces that were drawn to be neutral elicited negative or positive response biases depending on the method of presentation. When this bias was negative under control conditions left contraction had no effect, but the bias became positive following right contractions. Similarly, when the control bias was positive the right contraction had no effect, but the bias became negative following left contractions. The results are interpreted as reflecting emotional changes and shifts in lateral attention resulting from activation of the hemisphere contralateral to the contraction.

A priming methodology for studying self-representation in major depressive disorder.

The authors investigated processing of self-descriptive emotional information in depression using a modified Stroop color-naming task. Depressed (n = 58) and nondepressed control (n = 44) participants were required to name the color in which positive and negative adjectives, differing in the degree to which they described the person, were presented. These target adjectives were primed by emotional phrases that also varied according to degree of self-reference. Analyses indicated that depressed participants showed slower color-naming latencies for self-descriptive negative targets primed by self-descriptive negative phrases than for any other prime-target condition. No effect of prime-target relation was found for positive material with depressed participants, and nondepressed controls showed no effect of prime-target relation for material in either valence. These results support the hypothesis that negative information about the self is highly interconnected in the cognitive system of depressed patients.