Sham surgeries for central and peripheral neural injuries persistently enhance pain-avoidance behavior as revealed by an operant conflict test.

Studies using rodent models of neuropathic pain use sham surgery control procedures that cause deep tissue damage. Sham surgeries would thus be expected to induce potentially long-lasting postsurgical pain, but little evidence for such pain has been reported. Operant tests of voluntary behavior can reveal negative motivational and cognitive aspects of pain that may provide sensitive tools for detecting pain-related alterations.

The prevalence and reliability of self-reported penicillin allergy in a community hospital.

Background: Penicillin (PCN) accounts for most cases of antibiotic allergies. Reported PCN allergy deprives the patient from this class of antibiotics and creates hesitancy in using other beta-lactam antibiotics. The aim of this study is to report the prevalence of self-reported PCN allergy among adult patients admitted to the hospital and to examine the probable validity of these reports.