Ganglionic Local Opioid Analgesia at the Superior Cervical Ganglion: MRI-Verified Solution Spread.

Introduction: Ganglionic local opioid analgesia (GLOA) at the superior cervical ganglion (SCG) is performed for pain control and is known to be an effective procedure. In this study, we evaluated the spread of the injectate in the area of the SCG. Our expectation was that there would be a correlation between the area and volume of the injectate spread and post-procedural outcome measures.

Is there any gender-specific impact in the treatment of patients with basal cell carcinoma in the head and neck region?

Background: There are no current studies concerning gender-specific impact on the treatment of BCCs. We performed a retrospective analysis with the aim of showing that selection of treatment by physician and patients' evaluation concerning quality of life and aesthetic outcome has a gender-specific impact.

Methods: Overall, 47 patients treated by excision of BCC from the head and neck region at our department from 2015 to 2020 were included.

Pain in Austrian hospitals: evaluation of 1089 in-patients.

Background: Despite the existence of internationally consistent guidelines for the management of pain, efficient regional anesthesia techniques, safe pain medications, and organizational structures, e.g., acute pain services, various studies have shown that pain is still common among both surgical and non-surgical in-patients.

Computed Tomography-Guided Coeliac Plexus Neurolysis in Palliative in-Patients with Intra-Abdominal Malignancy: Retrospective Evaluation of Neurolytic Solution Spread as a Predictive Factor.

Introduction: Computed tomography (CT)-guided coeliac plexus neurolysis (CPN) is considered effective at controlling pain in patients with intra-abdominal malignancies. The primary objective was to correlate pain outcomes with the spread of neurolytic solution in the coeliac area and to evaluate the predictive value for the spread of injectate for pain outcomes and side effects.

Methods: Blinded CT scans were reviewed.

CT-Guided Coeliac Plexus Neurolysis in Patients with Intra-Abdominal Malignancy: A Retrospective Evaluation of 52 Palliative In-Patients.

Introduction: Prevalence rates of chronic abdominal pain (CAP) and breakthrough cancer pain (BTcP) are high in patients with intra-abdominal malignancies. As part of a multimodal approach, CT-guided coeliac plexus blockade (CPB) and CT-guided coeliac plexus neurolysis (CPN) are commonly used pain management strategies. The aim of this study was to evaluate pain outcomes among patients with intra-abdominal malignancies who underwent CPB and/or CPN.

[Electrical muscle stimulation in combination with heat for patients with chronic, nonspecific low back pain : A randomized, double-blind, stratified, placebo-controlled clinical trial].

Background: Chronic non-specific low back pain (LBP) causes more disability than any other medical condition worldwide. Electrical muscle stimulation in combination with heat (EMS/H) for management of LBP has yet not been properly studied. Our hypothesis was that EMS/H provides better pain relief and improves subjective and objective data compared to standard treatment.

Prevalence of palliative care patients in emergency departments.

Background: Emergency departments (ED) serve as a contact point for critically ill patients. According to experience, a fraction of patients visiting ED present with palliative symptoms and require palliative care; however, the prevalence of these patients has not been determined in Austria so far.

Methods: In the ED of a tertiary care medical centre in Carinthia all adult patients presenting between 8 January 2018 and 17 January 2018 were classified on arrival with the Manchester triage system (MTS) and were afterwards assessed with a validated 2‑tier screening tool for palliative care.

[Treatment for chronic back pain? : Active multimodal, interdisciplinary pain therapy vs. physiotherapy-physical therapy for chronic back pain].

Background: In industrialized countries, chronic back pain is referred to as the "number one common disease".

Objectives: Are there any indications of different outcomes of chronic back pain patients when treated with a multimodal, interdisciplinary pain therapy (MMSTh) compared to physiotherapy-physical therapy?

Materials And Methods: Entrance and final examination by means of survey, questionnaires and physical tests in the intervention and control group, evaluation and comparison of the results.

Results: The intervention group showed very significant improvements in all tests.

[Long-term experience with Collagenase Clostridium Histolyticum (CCH, Xiapex®) for the treatment of Dupuytren's contracture: lessons learned].

Introduction: CCH (Collagenase Clostridium Histolyticum; Xiapex) has become established as a simple and reliable alternative to traditional treatments for Dupuytren's contracture. This study aims to analyse our results and discuss our modifications of this therapy.

Patients And Methods: The study included 312 fingers treated with CCH between 2011 and 2018 (256 patients; 225 men and 31 women).

Long-term improvement of the bio-psycho-social state of cancer patients after 3 weeks of inpatient oncological rehabilitation : A long-term study at the Humanomed Zentrum Althofen.

A 3-week cancer rehabilitation program was conducted at the Humanomed Zentrum Althofen, comprising therapy of organic defects, lifestyle modification, and psycho-social support. Therapeutic efficacy was assessed in comprehensive surveys before and after the therapy, and after 6 and 12 months. The study covers a 5-year period with data from 3233 patients.

[Comparative Cost Effectiveness of Clostridium Histolyticum Collagenase (Xiapex®) and Partial Fasciectomy for the Treatment of Dupuytren's Contracture in Austria].

Introduction: Since Dupuytren's contracture is a common disorder, the costs for its surgical treatment impose a considerable burden on the healthcare system. For the first time in the German-speaking area, this study aimed to provide a comparative cost-effectiveness analysis for partial fasciectomy vs. treatment with Clostridium histolyticum collagenase (CCH).

[Pain in hospital: Assessing the pain situation in Austrian patients].

Background: In a survey of all adult inpatients at the Wilhelminen Hospital in Vienna and the Klagenfurt Clinic on Lake Wörthersee, data on pain prevalence, the most frequent sites of pain, pain intensity, pain type, effect of pain on patients, pain evaluation on the various wards, pain precipitating factors, and patient satisfaction were collected.

Materials And Methods: All inpatients > 18 years were questioned using a questionnaire developed by the investigators at the Department for Anesthesia, Intensive Care, and Pain Medicine at the Wilhelminen Hospital.

Results: A pain prevalence of 45.

[Pain measurement in cognitively impaired patients with the Doloshort scale].

Background: Until recently the measurement of pain in cognitively impaired patients represented a neglected field in the diagnostics and treatment of pain. Investigations indicate a prevalence of pain in nursing home residents of between 45 % and 80 %.

Material And Methods: This study investigated the reliability of the German translation of the Doloshort scale and compared it with the visual analog scale (VS).

Treatment of localized neuropathic pain of different etiologies with the 5% lidocaine medicated plaster - a case series.

Objective: To assess the efficacy and safety of the topical 5% lidocaine medicated plaster in the treatment of localized neuropathic pain.

Study Design: This was a case series at an Austrian pain clinic, using retrospective analysis.

Patients And Methods: Data of 27 patients treated for localized neuropathic pain with the 5% lidocaine medicated plaster were retrospectively analyzed.

Treatment of localized neuropathic pain after disk herniation with 5% lidocaine medicated plaster.

Objective: To assess treatment with the 5% lidocaine medicated plaster for peripheral neuropathic pain after disk herniation.

Study Design: Case series, single center, retrospective data.

Patients And Methods: Data of 23 patients treated for neuropathic pain with the lidocaine plaster for up to 24 months after a protrusion or prolapse of the cervical, thoracic, or lumbar vertebral disks were retrospectively analyzed.

[Quality of postoperative pain therapy in Austria: national survey of all departments of anesthesiology].

Background: Despite increasingly sophisticated concepts of perioperative pain therapy, such as increased use of combined regional anesthesia techniques, the renaissance of ketamine and dipyrone or the use of oral opioids, no significant improvement has been achieved in postoperative pain therapy since 1995. About 300,000 of the approximately 700,000 patients undergoing major surgery each year in Austria experience moderate to severe postoperative pain. The aim of this study was therefore to assess the nationwide status of perioperative acute pain management in postoperative recovery rooms and surgical wards in order to identify potential areas for improvement.

[Clonidine for remifentanil-induced hyperalgesia: a double-blind randomized, placebo-controlled study of clonidine under intra-operative use of remifentanil in elective surgery of the shoulder].

Background: In the postoperative period, α2-adrenergic agonists have an opioid sparing effect. In a previous, experimental study, it was also shown that clonidine attenuates remifentanil-induced hyperalgesia. In this study, we examined under clinical conditions whether early administration of a single dose of clonidine can inhibit remifentanil-induced hyperalgesia in patients undergoing elective surgery of the shoulder and with continuous intraoperative use of remifentanil.

[Analgesic efficacy of TENS therapy in patients with gonarthrosis. A prospective, randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind study].

Background: The goal of the study was to substantiate the influence of TENS on pain development and medication needs of patients with proven gonarthrosis and chronic pain. The study included a 3-week stimulation period and 2-week observation period after the end of stimulation.

Materials And Methods: Patients (at least 20 per group) were assigned to either an active treatment group or placebo group in a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Blockade of intra-articular adrenergic receptors increases analgesic demands for pain relief after knee surgery.

Activation of opioid receptors on peripheral sensory nerve terminals by opioid peptides that are produced and released from immune cells can result in inhibition of inflammatory pain. This study tests the hypothesis that postoperative pain is attenuated endogenously through a local sympathetic neurotransmitter-activated release of opioids in patients undergoing knee surgery. We examined the expression of opioid peptides and adrenergic receptors in cells infiltrating inflamed synovial tissue and we hypothesized that intra-articular (i.

[Dementia and pain].

Dementia has been associated with disturbed pain processing and an impaired ability to provide self-reported ratings on pain. Patients with cognitive impairment have been shown to receive pain treatment less frequently than cognitively unimpaired individuals. Comorbidity is common in patients with dementia and a major factor contributing to pain.

[Efficacy of glycopyrronium bromide and scopolamine hydrobromide in patients with death rattle: a randomized controlled study].

Background: Death rattle is an extremely distressing symptom for the dying patient and for his environment. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of glycopyrronium bromide as compared with scopolamine hydrobromide in alleviating death rattle in terminal cancer patients with cognitive impairment.

Methods: In a randomized, controlled study design patients were allocated in two groups.

[Cancer pain from the nurses' perspective--findings from Austria].

The present study addresses the issue of cancer pain from the perspective of Austrian nurses. By the means of a standardised questionnaire 332 nurses (79 percent female, 63 percent with age < 40) were asked about causes and triggers of cancer pain, patients' burden of pain, used analgesics and their side effects, and the authority by whom they want to be informed about an own malignant disease. The respondents mentioned a wide range of causes, triggers and multipliers of cancer pain.

Modified lateral block of the suprascapular nerve: a safe approach and how much to inject? A morphological study.

Background And Objectives: This paper presents an evaluation of a modified lateral suprascapular nerve block with easy orientation, low risk of displacement of the needle, and with an assessment of 2 different volumes to propose an ideal volume for a successful block.

Methods: Both shoulders of 34 cadavers were investigated. Insertion point of the needle was determined in the angle of the lateral end of the clavicle, acromion, and the spine of the scapula.

[Quality of life and pain in hospitalized geriatric patients].

Background: To determine objective and subjective indications of quality of life in hospitalized geriatric patients.

Methods: Data were collected on 267 items using standardized interviews of 90 patients, including B-L and SF-36.

Results: In comparison to the control population, geriatric patients have worse SF-36 values; 91% have pain, and 63% depression and elevated B-L values.

[Pain experience and pain therapy of tumor patients in the view of general practitioners].

Aim: The aim of the study presented in this paper is to find out how general practitioners evaluate their cancer patients' health, quality of life and type and extent of pain. In addition the study aims to get information about the training in pain therapy and palliative medicine.

Methods: A representative sample of 440 of all Austrian general practitioners was interviewed via a standardized questionnaire.