Analgesic efficacy of intranasal butorphanol (Stadol NS) in the treatment of pain after dental impaction surgery.

PURPOSE: This study evaluated the safety and efficacy of increasing doses of intranasal butorphanol (Stadol NS, Bristol-Myers Squibb, New York, NY) compared with placebo in controlling moderate to severe pain after removal of bony impacted third molars. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This single-dose, double-blind, parallel-group, dose-response trial compared the efficacy and safety of 4 doses of intranasally administered butorphanol tartrate and placebo in controlling moderate to severe pain after the removal of impacted third molars in 151 patients. The study was conducted at 2 sites. The patients were randomly assigned to receive 1 dose of butorphanol tartrate: 0.25 mg (n = 31), 0.5 mg (n = 29), 1.0 mg (n = 30), 2.0 mg (n = 30), or placebo (n = 31). Medication was administered with a metered-dose spray pump. Patients rated pain intensity (PI), pain relief (PAR), pain half gone (PHG), and adverse events at 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 hours after treatment. At the end of the study period or before rescue medication (ibuprofen, 400 mg, or acetaminophen, 1,000 mg), patients provided an overall assessment (GLOBAL). RESULTS: A linear dose-response regression (P < or = .05) was observed for the means of pain intensity difference (PID), PAR, and PHG at 0.25, 0.5, and 1 hour, and for sum of pain intensity differences (SPID), sum of pain relief (TOTPAR), peak PID and PAR, and GLOBAL evaluation. The 1.0- and 2.0-mg groups experienced greater pain relief compared with placebo (P = .05) during the first hour after drug administration. The 1.0- and 2.0-mg groups had significantly better GLOBAL evaluations than the placebo group, but were not significantly different from placebo for time until remedication (TREMED). Incidence and severity of the most common adverse events were dose-related. Two severe adverse events (drowsiness and dizziness) occurred after the 2.0-mg dose. CONCLUSION: Intranasal butorphanol effectively relieved postsurgical dental pain, with a rapid onset within 15 minutes, and seems to be a promising addition to the current armamentarium of opioid analgesics. As with other opioids, it should be used cautiously in an outpatient setting.

Analgesic efficacy and safety of (R)- ketoprofen in postoperative dental pain.

This double-blind, randomized, parallel-group study compared the analgesic efficacy and safety of single doses of (R)- ketoprofen 25 mg and 100 mg to that of acetaminophen 1,000 mg and placebo in 177 patients experiencing moderate to severe pain after surgical removal of their impacted third molars. Both (R)- ketoprofen 100 mg and acetaminophen 1,000 mg were significantly (P < 0.05) more efficacious than placebo for all summary analgesic measures. Other than a more rapid analgesic onset (45 minutes versus 60 minutes) for acetaminophen 1,000 mg, (R)- ketoprofen 100 mg and acetaminophen 1,000 mg were statistically equivalent to each other. The 25 mg dose of (R)- ketoprofen appeared to approach the analgesic threshold dose, being numerically but not statistically superior to placebo for all summary measures. There were no serious adverse events observed in this study, with the overall incidence of side effects being somewhat less in the (R)- ketoprofen groups than in the acetaminophen 1,000 mg group. (R)- Ketoprofen possesses analgesic activity and an acceptable side-effect profile in the oral surgery pain model.

Using anesthetic localization to diagnose oral and dental pain.

The anesthetic localization procedure is an aid in ruling out or confirming suspected primary sources of oral or dental pain. The authors present two cases to demonstrate the effectiveness of the procedure.

ICOHR: intelligent computer based oral health record.

The majority of work on computer use in the dental field has focused on non-clinical practice management information needs. Very few computer-based dental information systems provide management support of the clinical care process, particularly with respect to quality management. Traditional quality assurance methods rely on the paper record and provide only retrospective analysis. Today, proactive quality management initiatives are on the rise. Computer-based dental information systems are being integrated into the care environment, actively providing decision support as patient care is being delivered. These new systems emphasize assessment and improvement of patient care at the time of treatment, thus building internal quality management into the caregiving process. The integration of real time quality management and patient care will be expedited by the introduction of an information system architecture that emulates the gathering and storage of clinical care data currently provided by the paper record. As a proposed solution to the problems associated with existing dental record systems, the computer-based patient record has emerged as a possible alternative to the paper dental record. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) recently conducted a study on improving the efficiency and accuracy of patient record keeping. As a result of this study, the IOM advocates the development and implementation of computer-based patient records as the standard for all patient care records. This project represents the ongoing efforts of The University of Iowa College of Dentistry's collaboration with the University of Uppsala Data Center, Uppsala, Sweden, on a computer-based patient dental record model. ICOHR (Intelligent Computer Based Oral Health Record) is an information system which brings together five important parts of the patient's dental record: medical and dental history; oral status; treatment planning; progress notes; and a Patient Care Database, generated from their clinical care information (the database is also stored in the ICOHR). ICOHR is designed to be integrated into a traditional practice management system. The components of the ICOHR system support the use of various types of clinical care quality management tools, including medical alerts, clinical care guidelines, care modifiers, and diagnostic decision support. Data input is multimodal, so the user may use both voice recognition and direct input with a digitizer board to enter information into the database. ICOHR is designed to be integrated into the clinical environment in an ergonomic fashion in order to facilitate the unobtrusive and efficient acquisition of patient information. ICOHR is currently under clinical evaluation in both private practice and institutional environments. The private practice is a large general dentistry practice with over twenty sites scattered throughout a large metropolitan area. The institutional settings are a College of Dentistry and a Hospital Dentistry program. The evaluations have started in two of the sites and the other site will be phased in during the next six months. Our demonstration of the system will include both prepared presentations of the system's various functions and provide an opportunity for hands-on use of the system for interested attendees.

Picenadol in a large multicenter dental pain study.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To estimate the analgesic dose of picenadol hydrochloride equal to codeine 60 mg in a dental pain model. DESIGN: Randomized, double-blind, parallel, dose-response study. SETTING: Four university-based dental clinics. PATIENTS: Four hundred eight adult patients with moderate or severe pain after extraction of one or more impacted molar teeth plus bone removal. INTERVENTIONS: Patients received orally administered single doses of picenadol 15 and 30 mg, codeine phosphate 30 and 90 mg, or placebo. METHODS: Single oral doses of picenadol 15 and 30 mg, an opioid agonist-antagonist, were compared with codeine 30 and 90 mg and placebo in 408 patients with moderate or severe pain from third molar extraction in a randomized, double-blind, parallel study. Assessments were performed for pain intensity, pain relief, and adverse events for up to 6 hours after drug administration. MAIN RESULTS: Picenadol 30 mg and codeine 90 mg were more effective than placebo based on sum of pain intensity differences, total pain relief, peak pain relief, and duration of analgesia (p < 0.05). Compared with placebo, the frequency of adverse events was highest for patients receiving codeine 90 mg (p < 0.05). No patients discontinued due to adverse events, and all such events resolved spontaneously. CONCLUSIONS: Picenadol 22 mg was estimated to be equianalgesic to codeine 60 mg, and picenadol 30 mg was safe in this dental pain model.

Relationships between preferred and maximum effort low-back motion.

The purpose of this study was to determine if subjects differed in their preferred and maximum effort low-back-movement characteristics, and to determine if preferred low-back-movement characteristics could contribute to the prediction of maximum effort performance parameters. Sixteen subjects performed a flexibility trial, isometric exertions, and both maximum effort and preferred effort repetitive trunk motion against a resistance set at 50% of the recorded maximum isometric torques. All movement directions about all three primary axes were examined. The results showed that the preferred low-back-movement characteristics were different from those when a maximum effort was requested, although the performances were equally consistent. It was possible to reasonably predict maximum effort velocities from a knowledge of the preferred effort velocities.

Next stop 21st century: a look at the future as an extension of the past.

This comprehensive forecast of the 21st century reinforces the continuing importance of information and its management. Although focused toward association executives, readers should find much of the discussion of particular relevances.

The analgesic efficacy of suprofen in periodontal and oral surgical pain.

Suprofen is a new, orally effective nonsteroidal antiinflammatory analgesic of the propionic acid chemical class. Three separate single-dose studies were performed to evaluate the efficacy of suprofen in acute pain associated with periodontal surgery and removal of impacted third molars. Study medications were: A--suprofen 200 mg, codeine 60 mg, propoxyphene HCl 65 mg, and placebo; B--suprofen 400 mg and 200 mg, aspirin 650 mg, and placebo; C--suprofen 400 mg and 200 mg, aspirin 650 mg with codeine 60 mg, aspirin 650 mg alone, and placebo. Analgesic and side effect data were collected over a 6-hour period after patients medicated for moderate to severe pain. All studies were randomized, double-blinded, and parallel-group in design. Suprofen was significantly more effective than codeine 60 mg, propoxyphene HCl 65 mg, and aspirin 650 mg. Suprofen 400 mg appeared to be clinically more effective than the aspirin-codeine combination and the difference was statistically significant for most of the analgesic variables. Of the 224 patients who received suprofen in the 3 studies, 16 reported drowsiness and 1 reported constipation.

The relative analgesic efficacy of propiram fumarate, codeine, aspirin, and placebo in post-impaction dental pain.

To evaluate the analgesic efficacy of orally administered 50 mg propiram fumarate, 650 mg aspirin, 60 mg codeine phosphate, and placebo in acute post-impaction dental pain, 159 patients with moderate or severe pain were randomly allocated to the four treatments in this single-dose double-blind, stratified, parallel-group study. A research nurse questioned the patients at 1/2 hour and hourly for 6 hours after medicating. A standard format was used to question subjects about their pain intensity and relief from the starting pain. Propiram, 50 mg, produced a level of analgesia approaching that of 650 mg aspirin in peak effect, total effect, and duration of action and was statistically superior to 60 mg codeine and placebo for every measure of analgesic efficacy. Several mild adverse effects were observed; however, they appeared to be evenly distributed among the active treatments.

The effects of fendosal, aspirin and placebo on postoperative dental pain. A dose-ranging and efficacy study.

The purpose of this study was to characterize the analgesic dose-effect curve of orally administered fendosal, relative to aspirin 650 mg and placebo. A total of 153 patients experiencing moderate to severe pain due to extraction of impacted molar teeth completed this two-part, single-dose, double-blind, randomized trial. In part I, the possible treatments were placebo, aspirin 650 mg, fendosal 100 mg and fendosal 200 mg. In part II, fendosal 400 mg replaced the fendosal 100 mg treatment. A nurse-observer collected subjective reports of pain intensity and relief at 30 minutes and hourly for eight hours. Fendosal 100 mg was not an analgesic dose but 200 and 400 mg were on the ascending portion of the dose-effect curve. Fendosal 200 mg was superior to placebo and about equal to aspirin in total effect but not peak effect. Fendosal 400 mg was statistically superior to both fendosal 200 mg and placebo. Fendosal 400 mg appears to provide analgesia similar to that of aspirin 650 mg but with a substantially longer duration. Only a few mild side effects were reported.

The validity of a screening test.

Many health professionals screen for the early detection of disease. Unfortunately, many of the tests and programs have poor validity or are applied to screening populations where the prevalence of disease precludes efficient screening operations. The epidemiological concepts of validity testing are presented to aid those designing or implementing screening programs.

A visual profile of the alcoholic driver.

Some visual characteristics of the chronic alcoholic were investigated in a sample of 100 male alcoholic patients and 100 matched controls. The purpose of the retrospective study was to determine whether these characteristics may contribute to an increased motor vehicle accident rate among alcoholics. Significant differences between the two groups, which might affect driving abilities, were found for color vision deficiencies and the breakage and loss rate of spectacles. No significant differences were found for stereopsis deficiencies, limitation of visual field, distance phorias, ductions, or the need to wear spectacles for driving. An analysis of the refractive data suggests that alcoholic patients may be slightly more hyperopic and less astigmatic than others; however, these differences are not sufficient to influence driving ability.

Relative risk factors in chronic open-angle glaucoma: an epidemiological study.

Some hypothesized risk factors in chronic open-angle glaucoma were investigated in a sample of 87 patinets with glaucoma and 87 matched controls. A significant positive association was found with diabetes, a systolic blood pressure/intraocular pressure (BP/IOP) ratio less than 5.75, and the taking of medication for systemic hypertension. No significant association was found with a history of smoking or an elevated systemic blood pressure. Analysis indicates that the systolic BP/IOP index may be useful as a screening test for the detection of glaucoma in samples where the prevalence of glaucoma is high.