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An article published online in Emotion states that “both smiling and grimacing can improve subjective needle pain experiences.” While receiving an injection of saline, over 230 participants held 1 of 4 facial expressions: a Duchenne smile—defined as one that reaches your eyes, with the corners...
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An article in the Journal of Pain asks, "does the mere possession of a placebo analgesic affect pain for individuals with and without immediate prior experience with the pain task?" Healthy participants were exposed to a cold pressor test, some exposed to the procedure pre-testing. The study...
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Reports show that urgent care visits are down, as patients aren’t comfortable going to clinics and practices in person: "Some patients have expressed concerns about safety because they didn't understand the precautions we put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19," said Stacy Tarradath, MD...
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NSAIDs, a common pain reliever and fever reducer, should not be taken by women after 20 weeks into their pregnancy. So says the FDA, due to the fact that NSAIDs “can lead to low levels of amniotic fluid surrounding the baby” and harm the kidney of the fetus. It’s a rare but serious condition. It was...
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The journal Children discussed a study of low English proficiency (LEP) and pain management for pediatric patients who had appendectomies at a hospital in San Francisco. Although LEP and English proficient (EP) groups received the same amount of opioid medication intraoperatively, the LEP patients:
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Featured Faculty Brennan Spiegel, MD, presented Application of Virtual Reality to Pain Management at the 2020 PAINWeek Live Virtual Conference. In it, he discussed the science and practice of virtual analgesia for acute and chronic pain management. Virtual analgesia involves use of virtual reality...
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In the Lancet, Child & Adolescent Health journal, the results of a Canada study of students and pain is discussed. An 11-week cognitive behavioral self-management program, called Chronic Pain 35, addressed therapy for chronic pain and shares the understanding of pain. Unfortunately, students in pain...
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Many people feel unsafe due to COVID and don’t want to be exposed by going to the doctor. Telemedicine, which was rising in popularity even pre-COVID, is filling a need, saving patients time and money by enabling them to see practitioners from home. In a study presented at the Anesthesiology annual...
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A study in the New England Journal of Medicine found antibiotics used for appendicitis “noninferior” to surgical removal of the appendix. Over a quarter of a million people every year have an appendectomy; it’s in the top 20 of most commonly performed surgeries. In this study, over 1550 patients...
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The anatomy of the visceral innervation: different organs cover the entire abdomen and pelvic region, including
- Bladder
- Uterus
- Fallopian tubes
- Ovaries
- Lower part of the sigmoid and the rectum
Viscerosomatic conversion is a very interesting phenomenon when it comes to visceral pathways:
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