Management strategies for chronic pain
Article Abstract:
Therapy for chronic pain should focus on reducing stress and disability because cure may not be a realistic goal. Possible therapies include narcotics, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, blocking nerve transmission by injection of local anesthetics, acupuncture, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), cutting nerves, physical therapy, and behavioral therapies. Each has its applications, and strategies must be tailored to the individual patient's situation. Some treatments lack efficacy for chronic pain; others may cause serious complications. New medications and administration techniques hold promise for the future, but more research is needed.
Publication Name: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0003-4967
Year: 1996
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Assessment of mutilans-like hand deformities in chronic inflammatory joint diseases. A radiographic study of 52 patients
Article Abstract:
Chronic inflammatory joint diseases can produce hand and finger deformities which resemble those produced by arthritis mutilans, and the extent of these deformities can be measured on either the Larsen hand score of 0-110 or the mutilans hand score of 0-10. The mutilans hand score is more able to describe deformities of individual fingers when the hand deformities are unevenly distributed. A study of 22 patients with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 9 with rheumatoid factor (RF) positive arthritis, 13 with RF negative, 27 with RF positive RA, and 3 with varied diagnoses showed an average Larsen hand score of 93.
Publication Name: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0003-4967
Year: 1999
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