[Nursing pain experts in German hospitals : A compilation of activity profiles and tasks].

Background: In recent years nurses have come to play a professional role in pain management. In Germany, the publication of the national expert standards on pain management in nursing resulted in nurses being educated to be pain resource nurses; however, since education has started the continuance and commitments of specialized pain nurses in clinical practice is basically unclear. The goal of this evaluation was to identify how pain resource nurses are involved in pain management and organizational aspects in German hospitals.

[Oral therapy algorithm for the treatment of postoperative pain. A prospective observational study].

Background: Postoperative pain continues to be undermanaged, at least in part, due to inadequate organization and lack of use of opioids. Especially patients who do not receive consultation from an acute pain service and are therefore not eligible to receive regional anesthesia techniques or patient-controlled devices suffer from severe pain after surgery. The aim of the present prospective observational study was to assess the efficacy and feasibility of an analgesia algorithm for this subgroup of patients.

Effectiveness and safety of postoperative pain management: a survey of 18 925 consecutive patients between 1998 and 2006 (2nd revision): a database analysis of prospectively raised data.

Background: Approximately 30-80% of postoperative patients complain about moderate to severe post-surgical pain, indicating that postoperative pain treatment is still a problem.

Methods: We analysed prospectively collected data on patients in a university hospital receiving systemic and epidural patient-controlled analgesia and continuous peripheral nerve block (CPNB) documented by the acute pain service team in a computer-based system.

Results: Of 18 925 patients visited in the postoperative period between 1998 and 2006, 14 223 patients received patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA), 1591 i.

[Histopathology of Kaposi's sarcoma].

After reviewing the histo-pathological characteristics of Kaposi's sarcoma, the authors show particular patterns of this disease in equatorial Africa (especially Cameroon). They note 3 associations with lymphomas, with special emphasis on 13 new observations of general lymph node enlargement in children. For 2 of these cases, remissions were observed.