Sir, Maternal stress during labor and delivery is a complex psychological response, which can be influenced by many factors, including the parturient’s expectations, her level of education (while many pregnant women present with a significant amount of prior knowledge regarding childbirth, others may have little or no understanding of the labor and delivery), intensity and severity of uterine c...

Twenty six patients who had received spinal cord stimulation for chronic pain were evaluated by videotaped structured interviews with staff not directly involved in the patients' care. In addition estimates of pain relief were obtained from clinicians involved in the patients' care and from close relatives and friends. Information about lifestyles and drug usage was also collected and correlate...

The treatment of pain in acute myocardial infarction varies with local practice. Narcotic analgesics are still the usual treatment in many hospitals. Knowledge of optimal doses, duration of pain relief, and time between drug administration and pain relief is inadequate. Many studies indicate that the relief of pain is often incomplete after' treatment with narcotic analgesics. There is often a ...

BACKGROUND Studies of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of genicular nerves have reportedly significantly decreased pain up to 3 months post ablation, but no longer term effects have been reported. We performed an analysis of long-term pain relief of 31 RFA procedures of the genicular nerves to analyze the degree of pain relief past 3 months, culminating at 6 months. STUDY DESIGN Chart review and...

Pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy (PUPPP)(also known as polymorphic eruption of pregnancy in Europe) is an intensely pruritic eruption that affects women during the third trimester of pregnancy. Treatment usually is aimed at symptom relief until delivery, as the eruption usually resolves rapidly in the postpartum period. We report the case of a 30-year-old woman who presented...

The hypothalamic neuropeptide oxytocin attracts the attention of both the neuroscientific community and the general public, especially because of its prosocial effects. In the brain, this neuropeptide is synthesized in neurons exclusively located within the hypothalamic nuclei. Magnocellular neurons compose the larger population of oxytocinergic neurons, project to the posterior pituitary lobe ...

Pain has both physical and emotional components. Physical noxious stimuli activate peripheral sensory neurons that, in turn, relay signals to the spinal and supraspinal nuclei. Subsequently, these signals activate areas within the brain associated with pain. Despite considerable knowledge in this area, analgesics may provide pain complete relief in only one out of five patients. Failure to mana...