AAPM

The American Academy of Pediatrics first developed a policy for media in relation to children under the age of 2 back in 1999. Since that time much has changed, including the ways in which media is a integrated into a child's life.

Scientists are able to predict the body's response to neuropathic pain treatment, according to a study presented at the 30th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Pain Medicine.

As long-term cancer survival rates continue to surge, an increasing percentage of patients with cancer-related pain are progressing to the chronic pain arena, which necessitates more contemporary treatment approaches to cancer pain management.

Although they have all participated in the development of treatment guidelines for a variety of pain conditions, 3 comprehensive pain experts openly acknowledged and discussed the practical limitations of published evidence-based recommendations during the closing session of the American Academy of Pain Medicine 2014 Annual Meeting.

Reducing high-dose opioid therapy does not worsen pain severity, functional ability, or aberrant drug-related behaviors in chronic pain patients when concurrent biopsychosocial services are offered.

Sometimes, chronic pain patients intentionally magnify or downplay their physical and mental symptoms during office visits. Despite that fact, little attention in the clinical setting is paid to underlying motives for positively or negatively biased self-reports.

Even if a chronic pain patient had been taking opioid medications exactly as prescribed, it would still be possible for the patient to experience negative cognitive and emotional responses to dose tapering that could amplify sensory pain and lead to opioid addiction.

In light of the fact that many physicians continue to rely on observational analysis and patient self-reporting to monitor opioid addiction or misuse, results from a scientific poster reinforced the benefits of routine urine drug testing in improving compliance with prescribed opioid medications and ultimately enhancing pain care.

Though different sets of treatment recommendations for knee osteoarthritis send conflicting messages to practicing physicians, James W. Atchison, DO, pointed out that the guidelines focus solely on the knee, while pain management specialists focus on the whole person.

Preliminary research data revealed a significantly higher incidence of opioid-induced constipation among patients taking opioid analgesics for chronic non-cancer pain than self-reported constipation complaints suggest.

Although fibromyalgia lacks an effective standardized treatment, one part of the problem is the condition's diverse constellation of symptoms that include chronic widespread pain, fatigue, and even depression.

Understanding and addressing these disorders can improve the patient's mental health as well as their chronic pain and other comorbid conditions. Incorporating cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy into the management of chronic pain has been shown to improve pain outcomes.

Successful CRPS management should be viewed as a continuum that requires a flexible treatment approach that incorporates pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic components.

Pain is a common side effect of cancer that can be caused by the disease itself, treatment, and other factors. Greater awareness of the causes and types of cancer pain, knowledge of available treatments, and willingness to consult pain specialists are the keys to providing effective cancer pain management.

Pain has been associated with a number of conditions, including addiction, depression, and anxiety. Greater awareness of concurrent comorbid conditions and the options available to treat them produces better outcomes in chronic pain patients.

Pain is a product of the brain and the experiences of pain can be shaped by mood, cognition, anxiety, fear, genetics, and other individual differences. Currently, pain is measured subjectively but an objective measure of pain may improve the diagnosis and management of patients with chronic pain.

New implantable technologies such as spinal cord stimulation and peripheral nerve stimulation have shown great potential to improve the management of patients with chronic pain.

Chronic pain is a difficult condition to diagnose and manage, especially since most diagnostic measures are subjective and treatment varies from patient to patient. A key to diagnosing and treating chronic pain is to have a strong understanding of the different diagnostic tools and treatment options available.

A poster session at the 2013 AAPM annual meeting highlighted research on the role of central sensitization in chronic pain, the use of microwave ablation to treat refractory pain in patients with soft tissue tumors, a possible treatment for opioid-induced hyperalgesia, and the psychosocial effects of opioid treatment in patients with sickle-cell anemia.

Trial design and other factors can conspire to produce false positive or false negative results, which complicates not only the search for more effective pain treatments but also the safe and effective use of pain medications in practice.

The authors of three award-winning posters shared results and insights at the 2013 AAPM Annual Meeting.

While digital medicine and neuromodulation have gathered enough clinical evidence to treat chronic pain, Timothy R. Deer, MD, president and CEO of St. Francis Hospital's Center for Pain Relief, in Charleston, WV, said regenerative therapies like platelet-rich plasma, stem cells and biologics are lagging years behind in the testing realm with a long road to go.

There are several tools and resources available to pain practitioners who want to use their patient data to conduct a clinical trial.

The advent of accountable care organizations, bundled payments, and other reforms under the Affordable Care Act has steered the focus of health care delivery from quantity to quality, but where exactly do pain medicine providers fit into the new value-based care model, and how can it benefit their patients?

News and updates about AAPM 2013, the 29th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Pain Medicine.

The likelihood of patients "doctor shopping" jumps when they are simultaneously prescribed a single additional class of a controlled substance.

Physicians should ensure that they have a support system in place when dealing with malpractice litigation.

Your overall goal is to stop a case before it's filed, but in the event that a suit is brought doctors most often settle.

Four experts discuss what they believe is in store for pain medicine in the coming years.

A study of a three-week treatment program for chronic pain revealed African Americans experienced worse outcomes compared to a matched group of Caucasians.