Sinogenic Orbital Complications.

Background: The term "orbital complication" does not designate an independent nosological entity, but is rather a collective designation for diseases or disease effects that involve the orbit and its internal structures by extension from outside. In general, their most prominent manifestation is swelling of the orbital soft tissues, usually unilaterally. The incidence of sinogenic orbital complications is approximately 1.

Attitudes and Beliefs Toward Advance Care Planning Among Underserved Chinese-American Immigrants.

Context: Many in the rapidly growing Chinese-American population are non-English-speaking and medically underserved, and few engage in advance care planning (ACP). Evaluating culturally-determined factors that may inhibit ACP can inform programs designed to increase ACP engagement.

Objectives: To describe attitudes and beliefs concerning ACP in older, non-English-speaking Chinese Americans in a medically-underserved urban region.

The effect of the macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) on excisional wound healing .

The macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) has been determined as a cytokine exerting a multitude of effects in inflammation and angiogenesis. Earlier studies have indicated that MIF may also be involved in wound healing and flap surgery. We investigated the effect of MIF in an excisional wound model in wildtype, and recombinant MIF treated mice.

Modeling the interference between shear and longitudinal waves under high intensity focused ultrasound propagation in bone.

Magnetic resonance-guided high intensity focused ultrasound (MR-HIFU) is a noninvasive thermal technique that enables rapid heating of a specific area in the human body. Its clinical relevance has been proven for the treatments of soft tissue tumors, like uterine fibroids, and for the treatments of solid tumors in bone. In MR-HIFU treatment, MR-thermometry is used to monitor the temperature evolution in soft tissue.

Pain-related distress among patients referred to a community-based palliative care program.

Objective: Numerous studies have characterized the pain reported by patients with advanced illness in terms of descriptors such as severity, but few have measured pain-related distress. Distress may be important in the clinical approach to pain. To evaluate pain-related distress among adult patients with advanced illness and pain following enrollment in an urban, specialist-level, community-based palliative care program.

Hospice Enrollment After Referral to Community-Based, Specialist Palliative Care: Impact of Telephonic Outreach.

Context: In the U.S., palliative care programs improve access to hospice through enhanced communication and efficiencies in hospice eligibility review and enrollment.

Hospice Enrollment After Referral to Community-Based, Specialist-Level Palliative Care: Incidence, Timing, and Predictors.

Context: Referral to community-based palliative care may increase the likelihood of hospice enrollment.

Objectives: This retrospective cohort study evaluated the incidence, timing, and predictors of hospice enrollment after referral to a community-based palliative care program.

Methods: Data from 1505 homebound patients referred to community-based palliative care during 2010-2013 were analyzed using multivariate linear and logistic regression.

A High-Touch Model of Community-Based Specialist Palliative Care: Latent Class Analysis Identifies Distinct Patient Subgroups.

Context: Community-based palliative care may support seriously ill homebound patients. Programs vary widely, and few studies have described the heterogeneity of the populations served or service delivery models.

Objectives: To evaluate a diverse population served by an interdisciplinary model of community-based specialist palliative care and the variation in service delivery over time and identify subgroups with distinct illness burden profiles.

Modelling the temperature evolution of bone under high intensity focused ultrasound.

Magnetic resonance-guided high intensity focused ultrasound (MR-HIFU) has been clinically shown to be effective for palliative pain management in patients suffering from skeletal metastasis. The underlying mechanism is supposed to be periosteal denervation caused by ablative temperatures reached through ultrasound heating of the cortex. The challenge is exact temperature control during sonication as MR-based thermometry approaches for bone tissue are currently not available.

How well do medical oncologists manage chronic cancer pain? A national survey.

Background: Cancer pain is usually managed by oncologists, occasionally with input from specialists in hospice and palliative medicine (PLM) or pain medicine (PMD). We evaluated the knowledge of cancer pain management in these three specialty groups.

Methods: Eight vignettes depicting challenging scenarios of patients with poorly controlled pain were developed; each had five or six treatment choices.

A pilot trial of intravenous pamidronate for chronic low back pain.

Intravenous (i.v.) bisphosphonates relieve pain in conditions such as Paget's disease of bone, metastatic bone disease, and multiple myeloma.

Erythropoietin mimetic compound AGEM400(HES) binds to the same receptor as erythropoietin but displays a different spectrum of activities.

EPO mimetic peptides (EMPs) have a completely different structure than erythropoietin (EPO) or new generation recombinant erythropoiesis stimulating agents (ESAs) like Darbepoietin alfa (Aranesp) and continuous erythropoiesis stimulating agent (CERA). This study intended to compare the effects of a novel compound called AGEM400(HES), consisting of a dimeric EMP conjugated to hydroxyethyl starch (HES), to those of recombinant EPO. AGEM400(HES) efficiently stimulated erythropoiesis in vitro and efficiently stimulated survival of EPO-dependent cell line UT7/EPO.

Medical oncologists' attitudes and practice in cancer pain management: a national survey.

Purpose: To evaluate the attitudes, knowledge, and practices of US medical oncologists that are related to management of cancer pain.

Methods: An anonymous survey was mailed to a geographically representative sample of medical oncologists randomly selected from the American Medical Association's Physician Master File.

Results: From a total of 2,000 oncologists, 354 responded to the original questionnaire and 256 responded to one of two subsequent shortened versions (overall response rate, 32%).

Transdermal absorption of ethanol- and 1-propanol-containing hand disinfectants.

Background And Aims: Ethanol- or 1-propanol-containing hand disinfectants are widely used as surgical hand antisepsis. The primary objective of this study was to investigate transdermal absorption of ethanol and 1-propanol from combination of 45% ethanol and 18% 1-propanol with skin protecting ingredients (Softa-Man®) within 1 h after application in comparison to the absorption of these alcohols from the product in the absence of the cosmetic additives. The secondary objective was to evaluate the dermal tolerability.

Pain management by primary care physicians, pain physicians, chiropractors, and acupuncturists: a national survey.

Objectives: Chronic pain is a serious public health problem and is treated by diverse health care providers. In order to enhance policies and programs to improve pain care, we collected information about the distribution of pain patients among four major groups of pain management providers: primary care physicians (PCPs), pain physicians, chiropractors, and acupuncturists, and the variation in the attitudes and practices of these providers with respect to some common strategies used for pain.

Methods: National mail survey of PCPs, pain physicians, chiropractors, and acupuncturists (ntotal = 3,000).

An open-label pilot trial of ibandronate for complex regional pain syndrome.

Objective: Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) type I, also known as reflex sympathetic dystrophy, usually develops after trauma or immobilization, is characterized by focal pain and autonomic dysregulation, and sometimes focal trophic changes such as osteoporosis. The pathophysiology is unknown and there have been few controlled treatment trials. The purpose of this study was to obtain pilot data on the safety and efficacy of a highly potent bisphosphonate, ibandronate, for the treatment of CRPS, which might be responsive to bisphosphonates' inhibition of osteoclast and anti-inflammatory activity.

What is the relationship of low back pain to signs of abnormal skeletal metabolism detected by bone scans?

Background: In approximately 80-85% of patients with chronic nonspecific low back pain (NSLBP), a precise pathoanatomical diagnosis cannot be identified. Mechanisms of bone nociception may contribute to NSLBP.

Objective: To determine whether findings on bone scans, which provide a pathophysiological picture of functional activity, are associated with self-reports of NSLBP intensity.

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, two-period, crossover, pilot trial of lamotrigine in patients with central pain due to multiple sclerosis.

Background: Approximately 30% of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) have central pain (CP). The anticonvulsant lamotrigine has been shown to be efficacious in some types of CP, but its efficacy in MS-related CP has not been confirmed.

Objective: The aim of this pilot trial was to provide preliminary data for a planned larger trial.

Transdermal resorption of an ethanol- and 2-propanol-containing skin disinfectant.

Background And Aims: Ethanol- or 2-propanol-containing disinfectant agents are widely used in medical practice, particularly in the surgical environment. It was the primary objective of this phase I study to comparatively investigate the transdermal resorption of ethanol and 2-propanol within 1 h after dermal application of the two agents as single preparations and a commercial product containing both alcohols in combination, respectively. The secondary objective was to examine whether a mutual influence of the two alcohols in combination exists.

U.S. board-certified pain physician practices: uniformity and census data of their locations.

Unlabelled: We determined the profiles of the board-certified pain physician workforce and the profiles of those residing near medical pain practices. Data from a mail survey of U.S.

Clinically significant placebo analgesic response in a pilot trial of botulinum B in patients with hand pain and carpal tunnel syndrome.

Objective: We conducted a pilot trial to assess the effect of botulinum toxin B on palmar pain and discomfort in carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) patients. Design. Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled.

Opioid treatment for agitation in patients with advanced dementia.

Background: Some patients with advanced dementia cannot convey the experience of pain verbally and may react to pain with aggressive and agitated behaviors. We hypothesized that unrecognized pain could contribute to agitation and that low dose opioid therapy might reduce agitation by reducing pain. We therefore attempted to determine the effect of opioids on agitation in demented patients.

Treatment of chronic mechanical spinal pain with intravenous pamidronate: a review of medical records.

We explored the effect of intravenous infusions of a bisphosphonate, pamidronate, in the management of chronic mechanical spinal pain, a worldwide public health problem in terms of lost workdays, medical treatment costs, and suffering. Bisphosphonates have an anti-nociceptive effect in animals. In humans, intravenous pamidronate relieves numerous painful conditions, including metastatic bone pain, ankylosing spondylitis, rheumatoid arthritis, and complex regional pain syndrome.