Physician Briefing

Pain Management News

• Gender, High DAS28-P Index Predictive of Pain in Early RA
  For patients with rheumatoid arthritis, female gender and having a high proportion of disease activity score attributable to patient-reported components (joint tenderness and visual analog score) at baseline are predictive of less improvement in pain at one year, according to a study published online May 3 in Arthritis Care & Research.
• Inadequate Pain Meds in ER for Patients With Long-Bone Fx
  The majority of patients with long-bone fractures receive inadequate pain medication in the emergency department, and disparities in management exist, according to a study published in the May issue of the Journal of Emergency Nursing.
• Bisphosphonates Cut Skeletal Morbidity in Multiple Myeloma
  For patients with multiple myeloma, bisphosphonate treatment is associated with reduced pathological vertebral fractures, skeletal related events, and pain, but bisphosphonates do not appear to improve overall survival, with the exception of zoledronate, which has been found to be superior to placebo and etidronate for improving overall survival, according to a review and meta-analysis published online May 16 in the The Cochrane Library.
• ASCO: For Chemo's Nausea, Olanzapine Beats Metoclopramide
  For patients receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy who experience breakthrough chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, treatment with olanzapine (Zyprexa) is significantly better than treatment with metoclopramide, according to a phase III study released May 16 in advance of presentation at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, held from June 1 to 5 in Chicago.
• Predictors of Length of Hospital Stay After Spine Surgery ID'd
  A variety of pre-, intra-, and postoperative factors contribute to increased length of stay for patients who undergo level 1 minimally invasive transforaminal interbody fusions spine surgery, according to a study published online May 8 in Spine.
• Low Back Pain Improves Soon After Treatment, but Still Lingers
  For patients with acute or persistent low back pain, pain and disability improve in the first six weeks of treatment, but low-to-moderate pain and disability tend to persist at one year, according to a review published online May 14 in CMAJ, the journal of the Canadian Medical Association.

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Pain Management Conference Highlights

• American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Feb. 7-11, 2012
• North American Spine Society, Nov. 2-5, 2011
• American Society of Anesthesiologists, Oct. 15-19, 2011

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Monthly Briefings

• April 2012 Briefing - Pain Management

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