Cybernetic Principles in Psychophysiology: Their Significance and Conclusions for Palliative Care.

Palliative care is dedicated to terminally ill patients with advanced disease, regardless of diagnosis, under the overarching premise of optimizing quality of life. This narrative review examines the extent to which principles of cybernetics and psychophysiology underlie this approach. Psychophysiology researches the physiological equivalents of psychological states and traits such as activation and individual reactivity, the interoception and the personal characteristics.

Status of inpatient pain therapy using the example of a general and abdominal surgery normal ward - a prospective questionnaire study to review a pain therapy algorithm ("real-world data").

Objectives: The mean pain intensity for inpatient consultations, for example in cancer patients, is known. However, the proportion of necessary consultations in the total volume of patients of a ward or a hospital, the general pain intensity in a surgical ward and the relationship between pain medication, length of stay and therapeutic success are unknown. The aim of the study was to examine surgical patients in a single normal ward subclassified into various groups (-/+ surgery, ICU stay, cancer, consultation for pain therapy etc.

Long-term opioid therapy and mental health comorbidity in patients with chronic pain.

Objectives: Evidence suggests that patients with chronic pain and mental illness are more likely to receive long-term opioid therapy (LTOT) and at higher doses but are also at increased risk of experiencing opioid-related harm. This study investigates LTOT and its relationship to mental illness in the setting of a university-based outpatient pain clinic with liaison psychiatric care.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of patients with chronic pain admitted between 2011 and 2015.

What does low psychological distress mean in patients with no mental disorders and different pains of the musculoskeletal system?

Objectives: The aim of this study is to define the different levels of psychological distress in patients suffering from pain and functional disorders of the musculoskeletal system.

Methods: This investigation was conducted as a retrospective study of 60 patients randomly selected of a German specialized orthopaedic hospital within the year 2016, whose therapeutic approaches are based on a non-surgical orthopaedic multimodal approach of manual therapy. All patients were suffering from pain and functional disorders of the musculoskeletal system.

[Characteristics and prevalence of painful coenesthesia in a pain clinic].

Background: Coenesthesia, a rarely described symptom, is classified as schizophrenia according to ICD-10 and can occur independently of psychiatric diseases as a form of pain. The prevalence in chronic pain disorders is still unknown. The present study investigates the characteristics and psychological comorbidities of painful coenesthesia.