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Starting a patient-controlled epidural anesthesia (PCEA) infusion while the patient is still in the operating room (OR)—rather than in the recovery room after the procedure—may help provide better pain control, suggests research. An epidural involves placing a tiny tube called a catheter in the patient's back to deliver pain medication. An epidural may be used during surgery or after surgery, especially for those that may result in a substantial amount of pain. If it is used following a surgery, the patient can self-administer the pain medicine as needed with the push of a button. Several issues can delay the set-up...

Researchers from the New York University School of Medicine have developed a brain implant designed to detect pain sensations in real-time and deliver bursts of pain-relieving stimulation. The device is still deeply experimental but a new proof of concept study demonstrates it working effectively in rodent models. In the world of brain implants the chasm between science fiction and reality is still quite vast. Apart from some exciting human tests showing paralyzed individuals with implants regaining a sense of touch or controlling computers with their mind, most research in the field is still nascent. Animal tests have demonstrated incremental technological...

Substance makes predators dizzy and unco-ordinated by acting on their opioid receptors Researchers have discovered a fish venom that contains opioid properties, which could help in the development of new pain-killing drugs. The fierce-looking fang blenny, also known as the poison-fang blenny or the sabre-tooth blenny, fends off predators and competitors by injecting them with a heroin-like substance that impairs them rather than kills them. "The venom causes the bitten fish to become slower in movement and dizzy by acting on their opioid receptors," said Bryan Fry, who led the study published Tuesday in the science journal Current Biology. Although...

New research has uncovered how some cox-2 painkillers increase the risk for both heart attacks and stroke. The once popular cox-2 drugs, Vioxx and Bextra, were pulled off the market in 2004 and 2005, respectively, after research showed that both raised the chances of cardiovascular trouble. Meanwhile, Celebrex, a painkiller in the same drug class that remains on the market, carries a "black box" warning alerting patients to potential heart risks. Now, a team of scientists from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia say that, although cox-2 inhibitors are very good at inhibiting the workings of the cox-2 enzyme --...

Can an all-natural dietary supplement from tobacco plants help ease your chronic pain? Yes, according to the makers of a product called "Anatabloc." * * * Anatabloc, which comes in pill or lozenge form, is based on a substance called "Anatabine" that comes from tobacco plants. That's right tobacco. After you take a pill, it enters your body and interacts with a protein in your cells. The resulting cell adopts a natural anti-inflammatory process in the body. Researchers say it's very effective and promising in the battle against chronic pain.

The active agent Ziconotide, the synthetic toxin of the cone snail (Conus magus), was acclaimed a safe alternative to morphine when it was introduced six years ago. Now it is increasingly suspected of causing patients to commit suicide. German researchers working under the auspices of Prof. Christoph Maier at the Ruhr University presume that Ziconotide not only suppresses the transmission of pain stimuli, but also deteriorates the frame of mind and could simultaneously reduce anxiety and impulse control. These mechanisms could promote suicidal tendencies in vulnerable patients.

The Drug Enforcement Administration’s War on Prescription Painkillers Since 2001, the federal government has accelerated its pursuit of physicians it alleges are contributing to an increase of prescription-drug addiction. These highly publicized indictments and prosecutions have frightened many physicians out of the field of pain management, exacerbating an already serious health crisis—the widespread undertreatment of severe chronic pain.