Here are what the editors at HealthDay consider to be the most important developments in Pain Management for September 2014. This roundup includes the latest research news from journal articles, as well as the FDA approvals and regulatory changes that are the most likely to affect clinical practice.
Acupuncture May Not Help Chronic Knee Pain
TUESDAY, Sept. 30, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Acupuncture doesn't improve knee pain any more than sham acupuncture, according to a new study published in the Oct. 1 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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Spinal Cord Stimulation Feasible for Diabetic Neuropathy
TUESDAY, Sept. 30, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy (PDPN), spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is a successful treatment, according to a study published online Sept. 11 in Diabetes Care.
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American Academy of Neurology Issues Opioid Guidelines
TUESDAY, Sept. 30, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- The risks of opioids outweigh their benefits for treating chronic noncancer pain such as chronic headaches, low back pain, and fibromyalgia, according to a new statement from the American Academy of Neurology (AAN).
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'Just-in-Time' Methodology Can Reduce Patient Waiting Times
MONDAY, Sept. 29, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Having trainee physicians review cases prior to clinic hours can reduce patient waiting times, flow times, and clinic session times, according to a study published online Sept. 16 in Pain Medicine. The management process studied was first popularized by Toyota in Japan.
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Ultrasound Can Accurately Diagnose Carpal Tunnel
MONDAY, Sept. 29, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Ultrasound can accurately confirm the diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome, according to a study published in the Sept. 3 issue of The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery.
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AMA Launches Three Programs for Physician Wellness
MONDAY, Sept. 29, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Physicians' personal health is a global concern and three initiatives are being developed to encourage positive change, according to a report from the American Medical Association (AMA).
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Experiences Trump Things, Even Before Purchase
FRIDAY, Sept. 26, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- People derive value from the anticipation of purchasing something, and this anticipation tends to be greater for an experiential purchase than for a material purchase, according to a study published online Aug. 21 in Psychological Science.
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Considerable Work Productivity Loss in Early Arthritis
FRIDAY, Sept. 26, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with early arthritis (EA), work productivity (WP) loss is considerable during the first three years of disease, according to research published in the September issue of Arthritis Care & Research.
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Can Media Multitasking Alter Your Brain?
THURSDAY, Sept. 25, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Multitasking with smartphones, laptop computers, and other media devices could change the structure of your brain, according to a study published online Sept. 24 in PLOS ONE.
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NSAIDs Tied to Risk of Venous Thromboembolism
THURSDAY, Sept. 25, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may increase risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE), according to new research published online Sept. 24 in Rheumatology.
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Blood Test Might Predict Speed of Recovery From Surgery
THURSDAY, Sept. 25, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Measuring the activity of subsets of white blood cells immediately after surgery might reveal which patients are likely to recover quickly and those who won't, a preliminary study suggests. The report was published in the Sept. 24 issue of Science Translational Medicine.
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Varicose Vein Treatments All Work, but Aren't Quite Equal
THURSDAY, Sept. 25, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Three common treatments for varicose veins all ease symptoms, though there may be small differences in quality of life months later, according to a study published in the Sept. 25 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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More HIV+ Patients Undergoing Spinal Fusion
THURSDAY, Sept. 25, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- More HIV-positive patients are undergoing spinal fusions, and these patients have higher rates of complications resulting from the procedures, according to a study published in the Sept. 15 issue of Spine.
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Most Doctors Are Over-Extended or at Full Capacity
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 24, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Most physicians report being over-extended or at full capacity, according to a survey conducted by Merritt Hawkins for The Physicians Foundation.
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Meditation May Benefit Those Who Suffer From Migraines
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 24, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is a safe and practical intervention for adults with migraine headaches, according to research published online July 18 in Headache.
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Report Identifies Game Changers for U.S. Health Care
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 24, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Imagine if doctors and hospitals got paid for providing better care, not more care, and patients had better data for making informed health choices. A new report suggests that's the direction the U.S. health system is headed.
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FDA Warns Doctors of Danger From 'Fake' Drugs
TUESDAY, Sept. 23, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- The number of "rogue" wholesale distributors selling fake or unapproved prescription drugs is growing, so doctors need to be vigilant when purchasing medicines, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned Tuesday.
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Generic Discount Drug Program Use Has Increased Over Time
TUESDAY, Sept. 23, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Use of the generic discount drug program (GDDP) for filling prescriptions with generic drugs has increased since its introduction, according to a research letter published online Sept 22 in JAMA Internal Medicine.
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Chikungunya Fever Identified in the United States
TUESDAY, Sept. 23, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Chikungunya fever is being seen in travelers returning to the United States from affected regions and should be considered as a diagnosis for febrile travelers, according to an ideas and opinions piece published online Sept. 23 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
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NIH Adds $10M to Encourage Gender Balance in Clinical Trials
TUESDAY, Sept. 23, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. National Institutes of Health is investing $10 million in additional funding in scientific trials to encourage researchers to consider gender in their preclinical and clinical studies.
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Systemwide Changes Needed to Restrain Health Care Spending
FRIDAY, Sept. 19, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Systemwide changes are necessary to prevent excessive health care spending, and so are tools to help consumers make better, more informed medical choices, according to a white paper published in June by Vitals.
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Breast Cancer Subtype Affects Survival With Spinal Metastasis
FRIDAY, Sept. 19, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with breast cancer with spinal metastases, estrogen receptor (ER)/hormone receptor (HR)-negative status is associated with worse survival, according to a study published in the Sept. 1 issue of Spine.
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Study Explores Docs' Roles in End-of-Life Hospitalizations
FRIDAY, Sept. 19, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Family physicians have several distinct roles in preventing and guiding hospitalization at the end of life, according to a study published in the September/October issue of the Annals of Family Medicine.
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Presence of Peers Ups Health Workers' Hand Hygiene
FRIDAY, Sept. 19, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- The presence of other health care workers improves hand hygiene adherence, according to a study published in the October issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.
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Strategies Can Help Docs Lower Their Tax Burden
THURSDAY, Sept. 18, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Strategies are presented to help physicians lower their tax burden in an article published Sept. 2 in Medical Economics.
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CDC: Almost Everyone Needs a Flu Shot
THURSDAY, Sept. 18, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Less than half of all Americans got a flu shot last year, so U.S. health officials on Thursday urged that everyone 6 months and older get vaccinated for the coming flu season. "It's really unfortunate that half of Americans are not getting the protection from flu they could get," said Thomas Frieden, M.D., director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during a morning news conference.
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Migraines in Middle Age Tied to Increased Risk of Parkinson's
THURSDAY, Sept. 18, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Migraines in midlife may be associated with increased odds of developing Parkinson's disease or other movement disorders in later years, according to research published online Sept. 17 in Neurology.
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High Mortality, Costs With C. difficile After Spine Surgery
THURSDAY, Sept. 18, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- For patients undergoing lumbar spine surgery, Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infection is associated with longer, more expensive hospital stays, and increased mortality, according to a study published in the Sept. 1 issue of Spine.
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Internists Report Considerable EMR-Linked Time Loss
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 17, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Use of electronic medical record (EMR) systems is associated with considerable loss of free time per clinic day, according to a research letter published online Sept. 8 in JAMA Internal Medicine.
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Doctors Promoting Transparency With Patients
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 17, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Efforts to increase transparency among doctors are underway, according to an article published in The Boston Globe.
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Who's My Doctor
FDA Approves Movantik for Opioid-Induced Constipation
TUESDAY, Sept. 16, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Movantik (naloxegol) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat opioid-induced constipation, the agency said Tuesday.
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CDC: Opioid-Related Deaths Quadrupled in Past Decade
TUESDAY, Sept. 16, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- The number of Americans dying from accidental overdoses of opioid analgesics jumped significantly from 1999 to 2011, according to a September data brief published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).
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Over a Quarter of Hospital Orders Classified As Defensive
TUESDAY, Sept. 16, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- More than one-quarter of hospital medicine services were rated by ordering physicians as at least a partially defensive order, according to a research letter published online Sept. 15 in JAMA Internal Medicine.
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Spinal Manipulation Helps Relieve Back-Related Leg Pain
TUESDAY, Sept. 16, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Adding spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) to home exercise and advice (HEA) may improve short-term outcomes in patients with subacute and chronic back-related leg pain (BRLP), according to research published in the Sept. 16 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
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Surgeon's Specialty Has Limited Effect on Spinal Surgery Outcome
MONDAY, Sept. 15, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Surgical specialty has limited influence on short-term outcomes after elective spine surgery, with differences noted for transfusions and length of stay, according to a study published online Sept. 1 in Spine.
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Errata Frequently Seen in Medical Literature
MONDAY, Sept. 15, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Errata, including those that may materially change the interpretation of data, are frequent in medical publications, according to a study published in the August issue of The American Journal of Medicine.
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New Role of Patient As Consumer Requires Market Changes
FRIDAY, Sept. 12, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- The new consumer retail market in U.S. health care is necessary and will benefit consumers, and as consumers take on more costs of care, access to information to help them make informed decisions is crucial, according to a recent white paper published by Vitals.
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Mechanism Proposed for Nicotine Gateway Hypothesis
FRIDAY, Sept. 12, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Mechanisms underlying nicotine use as a gateway to cocaine use have been proposed in a Shattuck lecture published in the Sept. 4 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Opioid Overdose Prevention Needed in Young Adult Users
FRIDAY, Sept. 12, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Many young adult nonmedical prescription opioid (PO) users are relatively uninformed about overdose awareness, avoidance, and response strategies, according to a study published online Aug. 22 in The International Journal of Drug Policy.
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Glycemic Control Linked to Lumbar Surgery Complications
FRIDAY, Sept. 12, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) undergoing degenerative lumbar spine surgery, suboptimal glycemic control contributes to increased risk of complications and poor outcomes, according to a study published in the Sept. 15 issue of Spine.
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Physician Describes Impact of Malpractice Suit
THURSDAY, Sept. 11, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- A family doctor who was involved in a malpractice suit describes the impact on her practice of medicine in an article published online in the September/October issue of the Annals of Family Medicine.
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Half of Staff Believe Dignified Death Possible in Cancer Centers
THURSDAY, Sept. 11, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- About half of cancer center staff members perceive that a dignified death is possible for cancer patients on their wards, according to a study published online Sept. 8 in Cancer.
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Fear About Disease Progression Prompts ER Returns
THURSDAY, Sept. 11, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Perceived inability to access timely follow-up care and uncertainty and fear about disease progression are the main reasons for return visits to the emergency department, according to a study published online Sept. 2 in the Annals of Emergency Medicine.
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Interbody Fusion Rapidly Adopted For Spondylolisthesis
THURSDAY, Sept. 11, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Interbody fusion (IF) has been rapidly adopted for the treatment of degenerative spondylolisthesis (DS), according to a study published in the Sept. 1 issue of Spine.
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Evidence Lacking for Efficacy of Implantable Devices
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 10, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- High-quality evidence for the effectiveness and safety of recent and ostensibly high-value implantable devices in major joint replacement is lacking, according to a study published online Sept. 9 in BMJ.
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Reanalyses of RCTs Can Lead to Different Conclusions
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 10, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- More than one-third of the small number of reanalyses of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) have implied conclusions different from those of the original articles, according to a study published online Sept. 9 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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Editorial
For Some, Health Insurance More Costly Than Uninsured Penalty
TUESDAY, Sept. 9, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- For some young people in the United States, the cost of paying a penalty for not buying health insurance will be lower than the lowest-cost insurance, according to a study published online Sept. 9 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
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Disk Replacement Preserves Long-Term Spinal Motion
TUESDAY, Sept. 9, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- For treatment of degenerative cervical disk disorders in young patients, artificial disk replacement can preserve the motion of the spinal unit, according to a study published in the September issue of Spine.
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Report Explores Patients' Portal Preferences
MONDAY, Sept. 8, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Patients want portals that include features such as appointment scheduling, viewing test results, and checking prescription refills, and are frustrated with unresponsive staff and poor interfaces, according to a report published by Software Advice.
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Spinal Manipulation, Exercise Best for Neck Pain in Seniors
MONDAY, Sept. 8, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- The combination of spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) with home exercise (HE) is most effective for neck pain in older patients, according to a study published in the Sept. 1 issue of The Spine Journal.
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Health Care Spending Expected to Rise in 2014 Through 2023
MONDAY, Sept. 8, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- While health spending growth was slow in 2013, health spending is expected to increase in 2014 and remain higher through 2023, according to a study published online Sept. 3 in Health Affairs.
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Nearly 10 Percent of Americans Admit to Illicit Drug Use
FRIDAY, Sept. 5, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Nearly 10 percent of Americans aged 12 and older were illicit drug users in 2013, and almost 20 million said they used marijuana, making it the most widely used drug, U.S. health officials reported Thursday. Two states, Colorado and Washington, permit the recreational use of marijuana.
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Diabetes May Increase Risk of Visual Loss Post-Spinal Fusion
FRIDAY, Sept. 5, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Though rare, some patients are at higher risk for perioperative visual loss (POVL) after spinal fusion surgery, according to a study published in the Sept. 1 issue of The Spine Journal.
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Blog: Seven Most Common Physician Social Media Misses
THURSDAY, Sept. 4, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- The most common physician social media misses and missteps can be avoided, allowing doctors to take advantage of marketing opportunities on all major social media channels, according to the author of a recent Vitals blog.
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Malnutrition Ups Risk of Elective Spine Surgery Complications
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 3, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Preoperative hypoalbuminemia, as a marker for malnutrition, is an independent risk factor for postoperative complications after elective spine surgery for degenerative and deformity causes, according to a study published in the Aug. 15 issue of Spine.
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