Health education programs added to fibromyalgia care reduce pain and improve quality of life in meta-analysis
Can learning about fibromyalgia help ease the pain? A review suggests it might.
A systematic review and meta-analysis of 7 randomized controlled trials in fibromyalgia patients found that adding health education programs…
Learning about fibromyalgia significantly reduces pain and improves daily life when added to standard medical care, according to a new revie…
Meta-analysis finds opioid-free anesthesia improves postoperative recovery versus opioid anesthesia
Could avoiding opioids during surgery help patients recover better?
A systematic review and meta-analysis of 13 RCTs (n=1733) found opioid-free anesthesia improved quality of recovery (SMD 0.46), reduced resc…
Avoiding opioids during surgery helps patients recover faster with less pain medication and fewer nausea symptoms, though the real-world imp…
TEAS reduces preoperative anxiety and postoperative pain in meta-analysis of 1026 surgical patients
Could a gentle electrical pulse help calm nerves before surgery?
A meta-analysis of 12 randomized controlled trials involving 1026 adults undergoing surgery found transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimula…
A gentle electrical pulse applied to the skin reduced preoperative anxiety, heart rate, and blood pressure while also lowering postoperative…
Opioid-sparing PCA non-inferior to opioid PCA for pain after total knee arthroplasty
Opioid-sparing pain control after knee replacement shows similar pain relief with less nausea
A randomized controlled trial of 98 patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty found an opioid-sparing PCA regimen (ketorolac and nefopam) …
A new pain method after knee replacement works just as well as standard care but cuts nausea from 35% down to 12%.
Combined Versus Deep Serratus Anterior Plane Block Shows No Difference in VATS Postoperative Pain
Study finds similar pain relief from two nerve block techniques after chest surgery
A single-center RCT in 60 patients undergoing elective VATS found no significant differences in 24-hour opioid consumption, rescue analgesia…
After chest surgery, patients got similar pain relief and used similar amounts of pain medicine whether they received one nerve block or a c…
Mobile App with Contingency Management Improves Pain Outcomes in Adults with NF1
Can a phone app help adults with NF1 manage their chronic pain?
A randomized trial in 108 adults with Neurofibromatosis Type 1 and chronic pain found that the iCanCope mobile app plus contingency manageme…
Adults with NF1 who used a phone app with rewards reported less pain interference and greater confidence in managing their chronic pain comp…
Perineural dexamethasone extends analgesia duration in upper limb surgery blocks versus bupivacaine alone
Can a common steroid make pain relief from arm surgery last longer?
A double-blinded RCT in 90 ASA I/II patients undergoing upper limb procedures found adding 4 mg perineural dexamethasone to bupivacaine sign…
Adding a tiny amount of common steroid dexamethasone to arm surgery numbing shots nearly doubled pain relief time to over 20 hours with few …
Telemedicine-Assisted Buprenorphine Induction Non-Inferior to Standard Care for OUD Retention
Can starting addiction treatment by video work as well as in-person visits?
A randomized controlled non-inferiority trial in 138 adults with opioid use disorder in India found telemedicine-assisted buprenorphine indu…
Patients starting opioid addiction treatment via video calls stay in care just as well as those with in-person visits during the first week.
Augmented reality game shows no significant effect on persistent opioid use after pediatric surgery
Augmented reality game shows no clear advantage over regular game for pediatric surgery pain
A pilot RCT of 66 opioid-naïve pediatric patients undergoing major surgery found no statistically significant difference in persistent opioi…
Playing an augmented reality scavenger hunt after major surgery did not lower opioid use or pain levels in children compared to a regular ga…
Pain Neuroscience Education shows short-term benefit for PTA student attitudes, not sustained at 3 months
Can a single lecture change how future therapists think about pain?
A small RCT in 41 Turkish physiotherapy assistant students compared a single Pain Neuroscience Education lecture to traditional pain educati…
A single lecture on pain neuroscience briefly changed future therapists' beliefs, but the difference faded away after three months without o…
Sequenced care pathway not superior to pain navigator for Veterans with low back pain at 3 months
Two care pathways for Veterans' low back pain showed similar results at three months.
A cluster randomized clinical trial of 1817 Veterans with low back pain found that a sequenced care pathway (SCP) was not superior to a pain…
A simpler pain navigator approach worked just as well as a complex program for Veterans with low back pain after three months.
tDCS shows craving reduction in male methadone patients; machine learning algorithm achieves 94% diagnostic accuracy
Small study tests brain stimulation and AI for opioid addiction in men
A small RCT in 36 male methadone maintenance patients and 24 healthy controls found that active tDCS groups showed significant craving reduc…
A machine learning algorithm identified opioid addiction with 94.3% accuracy in a small study, and brain stimulation reduced cravings in men…