Low frequency sound stimulation greatly improved the outcome of a refractory postherpetic neuralgia patient with mood and sleep disorder: a case report.

Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is a common and severe chronic complication of the herpes zoster (HZ) virus (shingles) involving prolonged pain which may last from weeks to years. Primary treatment involves oral therapies, although few patients experience a pain reduction of greater than 50%. Due to limited effective treatments, symptoms and comorbidities, including physical disability and emotional distress, are recurrent, and interfere with daily activities and sleep. A 34-year-old male had experienced refractory PHN on the right 3 to 5 thoracic dermatomes for about 3.5 years, accompanied with mood and sleep disorder. During this time, several treatments had been attempted, including systemic tricyclic antidepressants, opioid analgesics, anticonvulsants, topical lidocaine, epidural block, and spinal cord stimulation (SCS); however, their outcomes had been unsatisfactory. Low frequency sound stimulation (LFSS) was found effective in reducing the pain, and improving the state of both mood and the sleep. At the time of this report, the patient had been using this treatment for more than 240 days, his quality of life had improved significantly, and no side effects had been observed. LFSS is component of musical therapy, which categorized under complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). It uses audible sound (40-120 Hz) to produce a physical effect through the transducer when applied directly to the body, which can affect pain perception via mood and sleep improvement, activating an anti-pain effect in the brain. This case provides a rationale to study LFSS in patients with refractory neuropathic pain.

Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy for the Treatment of Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Osteoarthritis is the most common musculoskeletal disease. Extracorporeal shockwave therapy had shown an effect on osteoarthritis in both some animal experiments and clinical studies, but there was no systematic review to confirm the value of shockwave therapy in the treatment of all types of osteoarthritis and compare it with other traditional therapies (especially traditional Chinese medicine). METHOD: PubMed, Medline, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, WANFANG database, and VIP database were searched up to December 10, 2019, to identify randomized controlled trials comparing shockwave therapy and other treatments for osteoarthritis. Visual analogue scale and the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index were extracted and analyzed by RevMan and STATA software as outcomes of pain reduction and functional improvement. Adverse reactions were recorded to evaluate the safety of shockwave therapy. RESULTS: Shockwave therapy had significant improvement in both pain reduction and functional improvement compared with placebo, corticosteroid, hyaluronic acid, medication, and ultrasound (P < 0.05). In functional improvement, shockwave therapy showed statistical improvement compared with kinesiotherapy and moxibustion (P < 0.05) but not with acupotomy surgery (P = 0.24). A significant difference between shockwave therapy and platelet-rich plasma was observed in pain reduction (P < 0.05) but not in functional improvement (P = 0.89). Meanwhile, a statistical difference was found between shockwave therapy and fumigation in functional improvement (P < 0.05) but not in pain reduction (P = 0.26). Additionally, there was no statistically significant difference between shockwave therapy and manipulation in both pain reduction (P = 0.21) and functional improvement (P = 0.45). No serious adverse reaction occurred in all of studies. CONCLUSIONS: Extracorporeal shockwave therapy could be recommended in the treatment of osteoarthritis as a noninvasive therapy with safety and effectiveness, but the grade of recommendations needs to be discussed in a further study.

Pain Prevalence and Pain Management in a Chinese Hospital.

BACKGROUND Pain prevalence has been investigation in many developed countries, but integrated information about pain prevalence in Chinese hospitals is lacking. To achieve better pain treatment of hospitalized patients, pain management needs to be investigated. The present descriptive and cross-sectional study was performed to demonstrate the prevalence of pain by comparison with the 4 traditional vital signs, and to investigate pain management in a Chinese teaching hospital. MATERIAL AND METHODS Structured and systematic interviews were undertaken by independent researchers. During a patient's hospitalization, the prevalence of pain and the 4 vital signs were recorded. Then, the catalog, severity, causes, duration of pain, and pain management were assessed. RESULTS We found: (1) 63.36% of patients (3248 in total) suffered from pain while in hospital, which was 1.8~2.8 times higher than the prevalence of abnormality of the 4 vital signs. (2) 76% of patients had moderate pain and 21.98% had severe pain. (3) Pain intensity differed among patients with different diseases, but did not differ by demographic factors. (4) Acute and chronic pain were present in 68% and 26% of patients, respectively. In addition, 16% of the patients had neuropathic pain. (5) More than half of the patients with pain refused to receive pain-relief medication because they worried about addiction to opioids and the adverse effects of analgesics. (6) Most medical staff properly understood the 3 ladder analgesics. CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of pain is higher than the abnormality of the 4 traditional vital signs in a Chinese hospital. Although pain management has broadly improved, more patient education is necessary.

The Analgesic and Emotional Response to Intravenous Lidocaine Infusion in the Treatment of Postherpetic Neuralgia: A Randomized, Double-Blinded, Placebo-controlled Study.

OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated the analgesic efficacy and emotional response to intravenous lidocaine infusion compared with placebo in patients with postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). METHODS: In this randomized, double-blinded study, patients with PHN received 5 mg/kg intravenous lidocaine infusion or placebo. The primary outcome was pain measured by Visual Analogue Scale, Von Frey, and area of allodynia. Moreover, emotional status of anxiety and depression were evaluated by Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS). Quality of life was assessed by Short Form Health Survey 36. RESULTS: In total, 197 patients were enrolled and eligible data were collected from 183 of those patients. The Visual Analogue Scale scores were reduced to a minimum at 2 weeks (2.74, 2.99) after infusion, but no significant difference was found between the lidocaine and placebo groups. Similar changes were also found in mechanical pain threshold and area of allodynia. However, the lidocaine group was associated with a statistically significant reduction in consumption of analgesics with a relative risk of 6.2 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.24-17.16). Lidocaine infusion also significantly improved the anxiety and depression status; the values of mean change in anxiety and depression were 3.89 (95% CI, 1.43-6.35) and 4.3 (95% CI, 0.63-7.98), respectively, at 2 weeks. Moreover, improvement was exhibited in Short Form Health Survey 36 health status, with the mean change of 49.81 (95% CI, 28.17-71.46) at 1 week, in particular scores on vitality, physical and emotional role functioning, and mental health. CONCLUSIONS: The analgesic response of 5 mg/kg lidocaine intravenous infusion is comparable to placebo in patients with PHN, but intravenous lidocaine infusion significantly reduced total analgesic consumption, and improved the overall emotional and health status.

The Theoretical Construction of a Classification of Clinical Somatic Symptoms in Psychosomatic Medicine Theory.

OBJECTIVE: This article adopts the perspective of psychosomatic medicine to present and test a theoretical model of the classification of clinical somatic symptoms. The theoretical model consists of four dimensions: emotional somatic symptoms, biological somatic symptoms, imaginative somatic symptoms, and cognitive somatic symptoms. METHOD: A clinical somatic symptom classification scale was developed according to the theoretical model. A total of 542 participants completed the clinical somatic symptoms classification scale. The data were analyzed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. RESULTS: The results confirmed the theoretical model. The analyses found that the proposed theoretical structure of the scale was good, as indicated by factor loadings and fit indices, and that the scale had good reliability and construct validity. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the interpretation of the clinical symptoms of psychosomatic medicine, the treatment of chronic non-infectious diseases includes at least three dimensions: the first is the etiological treatment, the second is the pathophysiological and pathopsychological dimension, and the third is symptomatic treatment. The unified psychosomatic point of view and diverse clinical thinking modes are aimed at identifying different classes of somatic symptoms and important prerequisites for the treatment of these symptoms. We registered the study with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry and it was approved by the West China Hospital, Sichuan University ethics committee. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The registration number is ChiCTR-OCS-14004632 (time: 2014-05-12).

Downregulated long non-coding RNA MEG3 in breast cancer regulates proliferation, migration and invasion by depending on p53's transcriptional activity.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) was found to play critical roles in tumorigenesis, hence, screen of tumor-related lncRNAs, identification of their biological roles is important for understanding the processes of tumorigenesis. In this study, we identified the expressing difference of several tumor-related lncRNAs in breast cancer samples and found that, MEG3, which is downregulated in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumor tissues, is also downregulated in breast cancer samples compared with adjacent tissues. For figuring out the effect of MEG3 in breast cancer cells MCF7 and MB231, we overexpressed MEG3 in these cells, and found that it resulted the inhibition of proliferation, colony formation, migration and invasion capacities by enhancing p53's transcriptional activity on its target genes, including p21, Maspin and KAI1. MEG3 presented similar effects in MB157, which is a p53-null breast cancer cell line, when functional p53 but not p53R273H mutant, which lacks transcriptional activity, was introduced. Surprisingly, overexpression of MEG3 activates p53's transcriptional activity by decreasing MDM2's transcription level, and thus stabilizes and accumulates P53. Taken together, our findings indicate that MEG3 is downregulated in breast cancer tissues and affects breast cancer cells' malignant behaviors, which indicate MEG3 a potential therapeutic target for breast cancer.

Life events, anxiety, social support, personality, and alexithymia in female patients with chronic pain: A path analysis.

INTRODUCTION: This study sought to identify a model that explains the relationship between psychosocial factors and chronic pain in female patients, and to explore all of these constructs in a single study and provide a more holistic examination of the overall psychosocial factors that female patients with chronic pain encounter. METHODS: Female patients with chronic pain (n = 147), aged 20-65 (M = 34.9 years, SD = 11.25), from an outpatient pain clinic completed a cross-sectional self-report questionnaire on anxiety, life events, personality, social support, and alexithymia. Data were analyzed by means of path analysis. RESULTS: The direct effect of anxiety on female patients with chronic pain was greatest among all the paths. Personality and alexithymia led to chronic pain in female patients only indirectly, mediated by life events. The personality factors of neuroticism and extraversion were associated positively with social support, which had an indirect effect on the influence of life events on chronic pain. However, alexithymia was associated negatively with social support, which had an indirect effect on the influence of life events on chronic pain. DISCUSSION: Our findings provide evidence that life events are a mediator in the relationship between personality, social support, alexithymia, and chronic pain in female patients.

The Constellation of Chronic Low Back Pain and Other Subjective Symptoms: Does the View Differ From China?

STUDY DESIGN: This was a pilot, cross-sectional study. Its site was West China Hospital in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. OBJECTIVE: An objective was to explore whether, in China, chronic low back pain (cLBP) characteristically is one symptom among co-occurring subjective symptoms. More basic objectives were to test a supplemented list of symptoms and to reconfigure findings from the literature on co-occurrence of symptoms so that they pertain specifically to cLBP. The governing metaphor was a constellation of symptoms in which cLBP is located. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: With the exception of small, isolated societies, previous studies of co-occurrence of symptoms were conducted in the affluent West. Although China's population is larger than the combined populations of affluent countries of the West, research on co-occurring symptoms has been neglected in China. Unknown is whether results from studies conducted in the affluent West may be extended to China. METHODS: A survey with the supplemented symptom list was cross-culturally adapted into Chinese and administered to cLBP patients (N = 72) and normal controls (N = 102). Multiple regression analysis was used to determine the effects of covariates (age, gender, education) on symptom reporting. RESULTS: cLBP patients reported higher median numbers of symptoms than normal controls, including total symptoms (9 vs. 3), musculoskeletal symptoms (4 vs. 1), and nonmusculoskeletal symptoms (6 vs. 2.5); differences between cLBP and normal controls were highly significant (p < 0.001). Covariates had a little effect on symptom reporting. CONCLUSION: cLBP characteristically was one symptom in a constellation of symptoms. This finding came from one research site in China. Nevertheless, consistency between studies is notable, with findings from the affluent West supporting the finding from the Chinese site. The tendency to concentrate on a discrete clinical entity, cLBP itself, may obscure the constellation of symptoms. The more expansive view of cLBP has implications for clinical practice and research. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: N/A.

Advantages of an etiology-based method for treating cancer pain: a case report and literature review.

UNLABELLED: The WHO analgesic guidelines for treatment of cancer pain have been proven safe and effective for most patients. However, there is still inadequate analgesia following that guideline based on pain degree. CASE REPORT: An 82-year-old man with history of right ceruminous gland carcinoma was treated by tumor resection following numerous courses of chemotherapy. He developed progressive pain ranging from 4 to 8 or 9 on the 0-10 numeric rating scale (NRS) involving the right side of face and neck area. Based on the WHO analgesic ladder, the primary prescription for the man contained tramal (100 mg/d) and celebrex (400 mg/d). However, pain relief was unsatisfied with this prescription even when dose of tramal increased to 200 mg/d. Then, tramal was replaced with morphine sulfate tablets at 15 mg at every 8 hours, but the pain was only modest relieved. After revaluation by pain physicianbased on etiology and mechanism of pain using ID pain questionnaire, the patient was identified to experiencing neuropathic pain. Finally, the pain was successfully relieved by gabapentin as an adjuvant to tramal. CONCLUSIONS: The successful pain relief of the patient in this case indicates that treatment of pain that based on mechanism might be worth promoting. According to the etiology of pain, specific drugs or measures should be selected for the individual patient. This approach have certain advantages, such as timely pain relief, reduction of medical cost, and effective improvement of life quality of cancer patients.

[A clinical trial of ultrasound-guided facet joint block in the lumbar spine to treat facet joint related low back pain].

OBJECTIVE: To determine the feasibility and clinical efficacy of ultrasound-guided facet joint injection and nerve block in lumbar facet joint for the treatment of facet-joint related low back pain. METHODS: 20 patients with facet-joint pain were randomized into two groups received block blindly (B group) or guided by ultrasound (US group) respectively. The location of needle tip was confirmed by CT in both groups, and the accuracy was computed afterwards. VAS score, puncture time and one-time puncture success rate (%) were recorded. VAS scores and pain remission rates in both groups were recorded at 30 min, 1 d, 2 d, 6 weeks after the block. RESULTS: The VAS scores were 3.3 +/- 0.4 in US group and 1.2 +/- 0.3 in B group (P < 0.05). The puncture time was (206 +/- 27) s in US group while (397 +/- 31) s in B group (P < 0.05). There were 37 facet joint blocks guided by ultrasound, in which 32 were correctly targeted with the first puncture. The success rate is 86.5%. There were 35 facet joint blocks blindly, in which 11 were correctly targeted with the first puncture. The success rate is 31.4%. The difference of one-time puncture success rate between the two groups was significant (P < 0.05). Differences of VAS and pain remission rate at half an hour after facet joint injection between B group and US group were significant (P < 0.05). There were 8, 9, 9, and 9 patients in US group obtaining a reduction in VAS scores > or = 3 at 30 min, 1 d, 2 d and 6 weeks after the procedure respectively, while the numbers of such patients were 5, 6, 5, 5 in B group (P > 0.05). After 6 weeks of follow-up, the overall remission rates were (72.3 +/- 14.0)% in US group, and (56.7 +/- 11.0)% in B group, there was no significant difference between the two groups (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The ultrasound-guided lumbar facet joint injection technique had a high feasibility and accuracy, and had better clinical efficacy than block blindly.

[Mechanical hyperalgesia induced by chronic morphine administration in young rats].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of chronic morphine administration on pain behaviors in young rats and to explore the mechanisms involved. METHODS: Sixteen SD young rats of 3-4 weeks were randomly divided into control and morphine administration groups. Young rats received saline (1 mL/kg) or morphine (10 mg/kg) subcutaneously. Each regimen was given once daily for 14 days. Pain behaviors were examined on day 1, 3, 5, 7, and 14 before the daily drug administration. Western blot was used to examine the expression of glutamate decarboxylase 65 (GAD65) in the spinal cord dorsal horn on day 14 after the last drug administration. RESULTS: Following 14 days of morphine administration, mechanical hyperalgesia was induced in young rats. Compared with control group, the mechanical withdrawal threshold of morphine group significantly decreased on days 3, 5,7 and 14. Chronic administration of morphine downregulated the expression of GAD65 in the spinal cord dorsal horn of young rats. CONCLUSION: Chronic morphine administration could induce mechanical hyperalgesia in young rats, and the downregulation of GAD65 in the spinal cord dorsal horn might play a critical role in the molecular mechanisms of morphine-induced hyperalgesia.

[Feasibility and accuracy of ultrasound-guided methodology in the examination of lumbar spine facet joints].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the feasibility, accuracy of B ultrasound in the examination of joint space of lumbar spine facet joints compared with CT scan. METHODS: Ten healthy adult volunteers were enrolled. The joint space of lumbar facet joints was measured by ultrasound. To identify the spinal levels, the posterior parasagittal sonograms were obtained at levels L1 to S1. The lumbar facet joints were delineated with the help of transverse sonograms at each level. Meanwhile, the lumbar facet joints were evaluated by spiral CT on the same plane, reformatted to 1-mm axial slices. RESULTS: A total of 88 lumbar facet joints from L1 to S1 were clearly visualized in the 10 volunteers. Both ultrasound and CT measurements showed the same average depth and lateral distance of lumbar facet joint space (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The lumbar facet joint space can be accurately demonstrated by ultrasound.

Do outcomes of acupuncture for back pain differ according to varying sociocultural contexts? The view from China.

OBJECTIVES: What are the outcomes of acupuncture for back pain? According to well-regarded trials, acupuncture is little better for back pain than biomedicine, and active acupuncture is no better than sham acupuncture. These trials occurred in the West. Patients are inside the clinic a miniscule amount of time in relation to the time they are outside the clinic and enmeshed in the wider sociocultural context. Nevertheless, trials have largely overlooked potential effects of sociocultural context. The main objective of this article is to draw attention to designated features of sociocultural context that, as compared with outcomes obtained in the West, may enhance outcomes of acupuncture for back pain in China. Additional objectives of the article are to reconceptualize "sociocultural context" so that it is measurable, and to measure pre-existing acquaintance with acupuncture and other forms of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) within the sociocultural context of China. DESIGN/SETTING/SUBJECTS: Back pain patients (N=86) were recruited from the Acupuncture Clinic and Pain Clinic of West China Hospital (Chengdu, Sichuan Province). Patients completed questionnaires on their use of TCM before they came to the Acupuncture Clinic and their families' use of TCM. RESULTS: Most patients had used TCM, and those who did so likely used it repeatedly, which indicated substantial acquaintance with TCM beliefs in the cultural context. Patients whose families used TCM were also likely to use it themselves, which indicated that TCM use was anchored in the social context of the family. CONCLUSIONS: Although multiple studies substantiate biologic mechanisms of acupuncture, there is not necessarily a fixed relationship between those mechanisms and people's experience of them. Rather, sociocultural context may interact with biologic mechanisms and mediate this experience. The theory proposed here explains why outcomes of acupuncture for back pain will potentially be more pronounced in the sociocultural context of China than in the West.

[Appraisement of stellate ganglion block therapy for uncertainty statements syndrome with infrared thermography].

We treated 20 patients suffering from uncertainty statements syndrome (USS) with stellate ganglion block (SGB) therapy. The medical infrared thermography was examined before and after the SGB therapy. Analysis on the changes of surface temperature as well as the outcome of the patients was carried out. Among the mentioned 20 patients, 15 (75%) got obvious effect, 4 (20%) fairly good effect and 1 (5%) a little improvement after the SGB therapy. The corresponding surface temperatures of these patients were 1.32 +/- 0.27 degrees C, 0.97 +/- 0.31 degrees C, and 0.76 +/- 0.33 degrees C, respectively. The more the surface temperature changed, the better the efficacy of the therapy was. The medical infrared thermography may objectively represent the therapeutic effect of SGB on the USS.

West China hospital set of measures in Chinese to evaluate back pain treatment.

OBJECTIVE: Chinese is the most commonly spoken language in the world, and back pain is as prevalent in China as it is elsewhere. Nevertheless, there is a paucity of measures in Chinese to evaluate back pain treatment. We assemble a set of Chinese measures to evaluate outcomes in diverse domains. A set of measures is necessary, because measures in one domain may vary independently from measures in another. Chinese measures are in four domains: pain intensity, global rating of improvement, physical disability, and emotional functioning. The Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) represents the domain of physical disability, and both the World Health Organization Five-Item Well-being Index (WHO-5) and the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D depression scale) represent the domain of emotional functioning. DESIGN: Measures were cross-culturally adapted into Chinese. The development of Chinese versions of the ODI, the WHO-5, and the CES-D entailed psychometric evaluation. Additionally, we administered the previously validated Chinese SF-36 to evaluate the validity of measures in our set. SETTING: The western-style Pain Clinic and the Acupuncture Clinic of West China Hospital (Chengdu, Sichuan Province). PATIENTS: Eighty-six patients with nonspecific back pain. RESULTS: We found no significant differences between patients from the Pain Clinic and those from the Acupuncture Clinic. For the ODI, the CES-D, and the WHO-5, we evaluated the psychometric properties of reliability, validity, and ceiling and floor effects. We found these properties to be good to excellent. CONCLUSIONS: In the Appendix (available online, in supplemental materials for this article), we present the West China Hospital set of measures in Chinese to evaluate back pain treatment.

[Peripheral anti-hyperalgesic effect and neurotoxicologic screening of amitriptyline and bupivacaine on sciatic nerve blockade chronically on neuropathic pain in rats].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the peripheral administration of amitriptyline and bupivacaine produces anti-hyperalgesic effect and to screen the neurotoxicological effect on sciatic nerve blockade in a rat model of neuropathic pain. METHODS: Twenty-four adult male SD rats [weighing (200 +/- 20) g] were made the models of chronic constriction injury (CCI) and randomly divided into 3 groups (n=8) 5 days after operation: group A (amitriptyline), group B (bupivacaine) and group C (normal saline). 0.5 mL 0.5% amitriptyline, 0.5% bupivacaine or normal saline were given in group A, group B, and group C, respectively through implanted cannulas after 5, 7 and 9 days of CCI once a day for successive 3 days. The motor function was measured before administration and 1, 2, 4, 8, 12 and 24 hours after every administration. Mechanical withdrawal threshold (MWT) and thermal withdrawal latency (TWL) were measured before administration and 1, 3, 5 and 7 days after the third administration. The operated sciatic nerve samples were obtained for neuropathological examination under light microscope. RESULTS: Twenty-four CCI rats were all survival without infection, palsy and catheter falling off. Compared with group C, the rats of group A and group B both produced significant ambulation deficits after every administration (P < 0.05). The ambulation deficits lasted 2 hours (group B) and 8 hours (group A) respectively. But the ambulation deficits of CCI rats were all reversible. The MWT and TWL of group A 1 and 3 days after the third administration increased when compared with those before administration and 5 and 7 days after the third administration, and when compared with group B and group C (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in light microscopic neuropathological examination among three groups. Epineurial tissue and endoneurium tissue integrity, tidy arrangement of fibers, less inflammatory cell and no marked degeneration of myelinated fibers were observed. CONCLUSION: Repeated sciatic nerve blockade with 0.5% amitriptyline has peripheral anti-hyperalgesic effects on neuropathic pain of rats. No morphological evidence of neurotoxicity in the sciatic nerve of rats is observed in 0.5% amitriptyline.

[Effect of preemptive intrathecal lornoxicam on foot swelling of formalin test in rats].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the anti-inflammatory effect of preemptive intrathecal Lornoxicam on foot swelling of formalin test in rats. METHODS: Eighteen healthy male adult Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats (about 250 g) were randomized into 3 groups: intrathecal solvent group (group S, solvent 20 microL), intramuscular Lornoxicam group (group IM, Lornoxicam 300 microg/20 microL) and intrathecal Lornoxicam group (group IT, Lornoxicam 300 microg/20 microL). After measuring the basic volumes of the left hind paws, rats were injected with corresponding solution intrathecally or intramuscularly, and followed by an intra-plantar administration of 100 microL of 5% formalin 10 minutes later. The volumes of left hind paws were measured again at 10 min, 30 min, 1 h, 2 h, 3 h, 4 h, 24 h after formalin injection. RESULTS: There was no statistical difference of weights or basic volumes among three groups. At 10 min after formalin injection, the left hind paw volume of group IT [(1.53 +/- 0.06) mL] were smaller than that of group S [(1.67 +/- 0.09) mL], P=0.039, but there was no statistically difference between group IT and group IM [(1.65 +/- 0.06) mL]. At 30 min after formalin injection, the left hind paw volume of group S [(1.88 +/- 0.88) mL] was larger than that of group IM [(1.77 +/- 0.05) mL, P<0.05] and group IT [(1.61 +/- 0.06) mL, P<0.01]. The feet swelling degree of group IT was less than that of group IM, P<0.05. At 1 h, 2 h and 3 h after formalin injection, the left hind paw volume of group S was similar to that of group IM, and the volume of group IT was smaller than the other two groups. At 4 h and 24 h after formalin injection, there were no statistic differences of the left hind paw volume among the three groups. CONCLUSION: At 10 min to 3 h after formalin injection, swelling of rat feet induced by formalin was alleviated by preemptive intrathecal Lornoxicam.

[Validating the Oswestry Disability Index in patients with low back pain in Sichuan].

OBJECTIVE: To test the reliability and validity of the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) in patients with low back pain in China. METHODS: Eighty six patients (female 51, male 35, average age 39.5 +/- 10.1) with chronic low back pain were assessed with the ODI. The assessment was repeated 48 hours after the first test. RESULTS: The Cronbach' Alpha coefficient for the ODI was 0.891. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for the repeated tests was 0.854 (95% CI = 0.775-0.905). The exploratory factor analysis extracted two factors, which accounted for 61.91% of the total variance. Significant correlations were found between the ODI and the 6 domains of the SF-36. CONCLUSION: The Chinese version of Oswestry Disability Index has satisfactory reliability and validity. It can be used as an instrument for assessing chronic low back pain-related disability.