Pain relief and functional improvement in patients with neuropathic pain associated with spinal cord injury: an exploratory analysis of pregabalin clinical trials.

Background: Characterizing relationships between pain relief and function can inform patient management decisions. This analysis explored graphically the relationship between pain relief and functional improvement in patients with neuropathic pain associated with spinal cord injury in two clinical trials of pregabalin.

Methods: This was a post hoc analysis of two randomized, double-blind, clinical trials in patients who were treated with pregabalin (n=181) or placebo (n=172) for neuropathic pain associated with spinal cord injury.

Burden of HIV-Related Neuropathic Pain in the United States.

Background: HIV-related neuropathic pain (HIV-NeP) is common; however, the burden of HIV-NeP is not well-understood.

Methods: The cross-sectional study aimed to characterize the HIV-NeP burden. A total of 103 patients with HIV-NeP recruited during routine office visits completed a questionnaire to assess patient-reported outcomes, including pain severity, health status, sleep, mood, and lost productivity.

Pain severity and the economic burden of neuropathic pain in the United States: BEAT Neuropathic Pain Observational Study.

Background: As with many chronic conditions, patients with neuropathic pain (NeP) are high consumers of health care resources. However, limited literature exists on the economic burden of NeP, including its impact on productivity. The aim of this study was to characterize health care resource utilization, productivity, and costs associated with NeP by pain severity level in US adults.

Health care utilization and expenditures among Medicaid beneficiaries with neuropathic pain following spinal cord injury.

Background: The study aimed to evaluate health care resource utilization (HRU) and costs for neuropathic pain (NeP) secondary to spinal cord injury (SCI) among Medicaid beneficiaries.

Methods: The retrospective longitudinal cohort study used Medicaid beneficiary claims with SCI and evidence of NeP (SCI-NeP cohort) matched with a cohort without NeP (SCI-only cohort). Patients had continuous Medicaid eligibility 6 months pre- and 12 months postindex, defined by either a diagnosis of central NeP (ICD-9-CM code 338.

Burden of illness associated with peripheral and central neuropathic pain among adults seeking treatment in the United States: a patient-centered evaluation.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate patient-reported burden associated with peripheral and central neuropathic pain (NeP) by pain severity and NeP condition.

Design: Six hundred twenty-four subjects with one of six NeP conditions were recruited during routine office visits. Subjects consented to retrospective chart review and completed a one-time questionnaire (including EuroQol-5 dimensions, 12-item Short-Form Health Survey, Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form, Medical Outcomes Study Sleep Scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and demographic and clinical characteristics).

Health status, function, productivity, and costs among individuals with idiopathic painful peripheral neuropathy with small fiber involvement in the United States: results from a retrospective chart review and cross-sectional survey.

Objective: To characterize the burden of idiopathic painful peripheral neuropathy with small fiber involvement (idiopathic SFN) by pain severity in the US.

Methods: One hundred previously diagnosed idiopathic SFN subjects were enrolled during routine office visits. Subjects completed a one-time questionnaire, and investigators reported clinical characteristics and healthcare resource use, based on 6 month retrospective chart review.

Economic and humanistic burden of post-trauma and post-surgical neuropathic pain among adults in the United States.

Background: Neuropathic pain (NeP) can be chronic, debilitating, and can interfere with sleep, functioning, and emotional well being. While there are multiple causes of NeP, few studies have examined the disease burden and treatment patterns associated with post-traumatic/post-surgical (PTPS) NeP.

Objective: To characterize pain, health status, function, health care resource utilization, lost productivity, and costs among subjects with PTPS NeP in the United States.

Burden of illness associated with painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy among adults seeking treatment in the US: results from a retrospective chart review and cross-sectional survey.

Background: The purpose of this study was to characterize the burden of illness among adult subjects with painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy (pDPN) seeking treatment in the US.

Methods: This observational study recruited 112 subjects with pDPN during routine visits from general practitioner and specialist sites. Subjects completed a one-time questionnaire, which included demographics, symptom duration, health care resource use, out-of-pocket costs, employment status, and validated measures that assessed pain, functioning, sleep, anxiety and depression, health status, and productivity.

A randomized trial of pregabalin in patients with neuropathic pain due to spinal cord injury.

Objective: To assess the efficacy and tolerability of pregabalin for the treatment of central neuropathic pain after spinal cord injury (SCI).

Methods: Patients with chronic, below-level, neuropathic pain due to SCI were randomized to receive 150 to 600 mg/d pregabalin (n = 108) or matching placebo (n = 112) for 17 weeks. Pain was classified in relation to the neurologic level of injury, defined as the most caudal spinal cord segment with normal sensory and motor function, as above, at, or below level.

Double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial of midodrine for exercise performance enhancement in tetraplegia: a pilot study.

Background/objective: Spinal cord injury (SCI) impairs cardiovascular autonomic responses to exercise and, depending on the level of injury, may result in hypotension and pathologic fatigue with exertion. Other clinical populations with sympathetic regulatory dysfunction, but without skeletal muscle paralysis, exhibit similar signs and symptoms. Their ability to engage in physical activity improves with elevation of blood pressure through pharmacologic treatment: Midodrine, an oral alpha-sympathomimetic agent, has been shown to be safe and efficacious for this purpose.