ANALYZING SECOND ORDER STOCHASTICITY OF NEURAL SPIKING UNDER STIMULI-BUNDLE EXPOSURE.

Conventional analysis of neuroscience data involves computing average neural activity over a group of trials and/or a period of time. This approach may be particularly problematic when assessing the response patterns of neurons to more than one simultaneously presented stimulus. in such cases the brain must represent each individual component of the stimuli bundle, but trial-and-time-pooled averaging methods are fundamentally unequipped to address the means by which multiitem representation occurs.

Detailed Anatomical Orientations for Certain Types of Morphometric Measurements Can Be Determined Automatically With Geometric Algorithms.

Morphometric datasets only convey useful information about variation when measurement landmarks and relevant anatomical axes are clearly defined. We propose that anatomical axes of 3D digital models of bones can be standardized prior to measurement using an algorithm that automatically finds a universal geometric alignment among sampled bones. As a case study, we use teeth of "prosimian" primates.

A new fully automated approach for aligning and comparing shapes.

Three-dimensional geometric morphometric (3DGM) methods for placing landmarks on digitized bones have become increasingly sophisticated in the last 20 years, including greater degrees of automation. One aspect shared by all 3DGM methods is that the researcher must designate initial landmarks. Thus, researcher interpretations of homology and correspondence are required for and influence representations of shape.

Assessment and management of persistent (chronic) and total wound pain.

Persistent (chronic) wound-related pain is a common experience that requires appropriate assessment and treatment. It is no longer adequate for health care professionals to concentrate on the acute (temporary) pain during dressing change alone. The study provides useful recommendations and statements for assessing and managing total wound-related pain for patients, health care professionals and other policymakers.

Buprenorphine injection to the stellate ganglion in the treatment of upper body chronic pain syndromes.

Background: The injection of low dose buprenorphine to the sympathetic ganglia, termed "GLOA", Ganglionide Local Opioid Analgesia, is used to treat chronic pain in several European centres. It is not known whether the clinically observed GLOA effect in chronic pain syndromes is due to a specific effect of buprenorphine at the ganglia. We assessed whether GLOA, plus intramuscular saline, was more efficacious than the reverse, saline injection to the stellate plus intramuscular buprenorphine, termed SSB.

An evaluation of a single dose of magnesium to supplement analgesia after ambulatory surgery: randomized controlled trial.

Background: Previous studies have suggested that magnesium may be a useful adjuvant to postoperative analgesia.

Methods: We randomized adults undergoing ambulatory ilioinguinal hernia repair or varicose vein operation under general anesthesia (propofol, fentanyl, isoflurane-N2O) to receive magnesium sulfate 4 g IV or physiological saline after induction. All patients preoperatively received diclofenac 100 mg rectally and those undergoing hernia repair had a postoperative ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric nerve block done.

Managing painful chronic wounds: the Wound Pain Management Model.

Chronic wound pain is not well understood and the literature is limited. Six of 10 patients venous leg ulcer experience pain with their ulcer, and similar trends are observed for other chronic wounds. Chronic wound pain can lead to depression and the feeling of constant tiredness.

An fMRI study of cerebral processing of brush-evoked allodynia in neuropathic pain patients.

Previous human imaging studies have revealed a network of brain regions involved in the processing of allodynic pain; this includes prefrontal areas, insula, cingulate cortex, primary and secondary somatosensory cortices and parietal association areas. In this study, the neural correlates of the perceived intensity of allodynic pain in neuropathic pain patients were investigated. In eight patients, dynamic mechanical allodynia was provoked and brain responses recorded using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Assessing pain at wound dressing-related procedures.

This article is an abstract from a new guide, Principles of Best Practice: Minimising Pain at Wound Dressing-Related Procedures. It is an educational initiative of the World Union of Wound Healing Societies (WUWHS). The guide has been inspired by two seminal documents: the European Wound Management Association's position document, Pain at Wound Dressing Changes (EWMA, 2002), and Practical Treatment of Wound Pain and Trauma: A Patient-centred Approach (Reddy et al, 2003).

Magnesium Bier's block for treatment of chronic limb pain: a randomised, double-blind, cross-over study.

Magnesium is a physiological antagonist of both calcium and the NMDA receptor. Patients with chronic pain of a limb (>1 month's duration) were treated with two Bier's blocks (250 mmHg, 10 m) in a randomised, double-blind, cross-over design. They received once 20% magnesium sulphate (500 mg) + lignocaine 1% (75 mg), and once physiological saline + lignocaine 1% (75 mg).

A double-blind randomised comparison of the effects of epidural clonidine, lignocaine and the combination of clonidine and lignocaine in patients with chronic pain.

Twenty patients with chronic pain who previously had obtained analgesia from epidural clonidine and lignocaine agreed to participate in a double-blind crossover study of lumbar epidural clonidine (150 micrograms), lignocaine (40 mg) and the combination of clonidine (150 microgram) and lignocaine (40 mg), all drugs were given in a volume of 3 ml. There were 11 women and 9 men with a mean age 53 years (range: 23-78 years); 9 patients had low back and leg pain, 9 had neuropathic pain, 1 had pelvic pain and 1 Wegner's granulomatosis. Pain intensity and pain relief, as well as sensory and motor blockade, were assessed for 3 h following each injection.

Morphine injected around the stellate ganglion does not modulate the sympathetic nervous system nor does it provide pain relief.

Six patients with a presumptive diagnosis of upper limb reflex sympathetic dystrophy and 1 patient with anaesthesia dolorosa had pain and sympathetic activity assessed before and after injection of bupivacaine and morphine around the stellate ganglion. Sympathetic modulation was assessed by measuring the effect of each injection on the inspiratory gasping response (IGR), a measure of central arousal, the sympathetic skin response (SSR), a measure of peripheral sudomotor activity and the plethsymographic wave (PW), a measure of peripheral vasomotor activity. There were 5 women and 2 men with a mean age of 49 years (range: 41-66 years).

The role of ischaemia in the analgesia which follows Bier's block technique.

The effect of 30-min tourniquet ischaemia (Bier's block) on the antidromic homolateral left median nerve sensory potential (SP) and on the bilateral sympathetic skin response (SSR) was studied in 6 healthy volunteers. The SSR was provoked both acoustically and by electrical stimulation of the median nerve; the latter stimulus was also used to provoke the SP. After 28 min of tourniquet ischaemia, the electrical stimulus failed to provoke the SP and bilateral SSR, indicating blockade of the afferent limb of the reflex.

EMLA cream in the treatment of post-herpetic neuralgia. Efficacy and pharmacokinetic profile.

The analgesic efficacy of 5% of EMLA cream (5 or 10 g) when applied for 24 h periods was evaluated in 5 female and 7 male patients (mean age 69 years, range 50-85 years) with refractory post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN). Mean visual analogue pain intensity scores for all patients were significantly improved 6 h after application (P less than 0.05).

A double-blind comparison between epidural morphine and epidural clonidine in patients with chronic non-cancer pain.

In a randomised double-blind study of 20 patients with chronic pain, epidural morphine 5 mg in 5 ml of saline was compared with epidural clonidine 150 micrograms in 5 ml of saline. Thirteen patients had a clinical and radiological diagnosis of arachnoiditis, 6 had low back pain and 1 had post-operative scar pain. There were 18 females and 2 males with an average age of 52 years, range 22-76 years.