Background and Objective
Self‐medication is associated with an important utilization of Over‐The‐Counter (OTC) analgesics. The medical outcome resulting from therapeutic options bypassing the physician prescription is a major issue. In that context, pharmacists are expected to play a crucial role. The main objective of this review was to analyse the state‐of‐the art of pharmacists' role in pain management self‐medication.
Databases and Data Treatment
An expert multidisciplinary group dedicated to self‐medication in pain was established. Selection of publications was performed from PubMedand EMBASE databases which was based on the use of “pain” and/or “self‐medication” and/or “self‐care” and/or “analgesics” and/or “painkillers” keywords, restricted to the past 10 years.
Results
A total of 480 papers were identified, 49 of which papers were considered relevant and finally kept for final discussion, on OTC pain management and pharmacist's role. Literature analysis demonstrates that OTC analgesics are generally safe when appropriately used. Risks associated with misuse or inappropriateness depend on patients’ vulnerability (elderly, pregnancy) or behaviour. Social cognitive theory‐based intervention and multimedia applications improve self‐medication but do not replace health care professional advice Pharmacists’ interventions may improve the benefits and safety of OTC analgesic medication, with a better management of pain.
Conclusions
Considering the heterogeneity of patients’ knowledge and behaviour reported worldwide, inappropriate use of OTC pain medication should not be underestimated. Community pharmacists are ideally placed to guide self‐medication or recommend a medical advice when needed. Embedding pharmacists in primary care pain management is essential and pharmacist‐led medication coupled with an appropriate training of pharmacy staffs should be encouraged.
Significance
Analgesics are widely used without prescription, all over the world. They represent the largest market of OTC drugs, with an overall benefit/risk ratio favourable when appropriately used. Because of potential individual risks associated to the ailment or to the patient's behaviour, pharmacists’ interventions have proven to optimize analgesic self‐medication, provided that pharmacy staffs are both available and more specifically trained. In the future, in pain management, especially self‐medication, pharmacists should play an increasing role and should be included in educational programmes and pain management guidelines.
Triggering of the finger at the A1 pulley is one of the most frequent pathologies encountered in hand surgery and a common cause of hand pain. Open release of the A1 pulley is currently still regarded as the golden-standard procedure. Nevertheless, there is an increasing interest in minimally invasive percutaneous techniques for the treatment of this condition. Current techniques range from percutaneous needle techniques without imaging, to the use of hook knives, with ultrasound guidance. Because of concerns about possible complications or incomplete releases, hand surgeons remain wary. The objective of this study was to introduce a new ultrasound-guided percutaneous surgical technique for trigger finger release, using a second-generation minimally invasive surgical knife. In this series of 78 releases, complete resolution of the symptoms was found in 98.7% of the cases. One recurrence of triggering was observed. There were no tendon injuries, infections, or neurovascular lesions recorded. This paper contains technical pearls and possible pitfalls to ensure the surgeon of a complete release and to avoid complications. A video of the technique was also included as Supplemental Digital Content (http://links.lww.com/BTH/A143). We can conclude that the procedure can be considered as safe and highly effective for the treatment of triggering at the A1 pulley.
A fragment of a fractured Telectronics Atrial Accufix 330-801 lead asymptomatically perforated the adjacent bronchus and was detected on routine chest X-ray. The metallic fragment was located by chest CT scan and bronchial fluoroscopy to lie between the right lobar bronchus and the pulmonary artery, confirming bronchial perforation. The foreign body was removed without complication by direct visualisation with rigid bronchoscopy.
Our easy-to-use system for evaluating the nonfunctional hand (MHS) was shown to be very effective in demonstrating the improvement of the postoperative result. The originality of our series was to show that Braun's original operation goals were only exceptionally and remotely achieved and that an additional technical procedure must be nearly systematically considered. All the patients in our series were followed up in multidisciplinary team visits where the patient's family and caretakers were encouraged to give their point of view. Level of evidence Level IV. Retrospective study.
Recent studies have reported individual differences in the capacity to learn new categories; the differences
had electrophysiological correlates. The objective of the present study was to test whether these differences reflected individual differences in cognitive traits. 15 participants (aged 20 to 30) who had participated in the prior category-learning studies agreed to take some tests of cognitive ability, including (1) the perceptual reasoning subtests of the Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV) and (2) the Doors & People test of visual memory. Prior category learning performance was found to be positively correlated with perceptual reasoning and with visual memory in partial correlations. These findings confirm that the differences in category learning may be linked at least in part to differences in cognitive abilities.
Des études récentes ont rapporté des différences individuelles dans la capacité à apprendre de nouvelles catégories. L’apprentissage des catégories possédait des corrélats électrophysiologiques. L’objectif de l’étude actuel était de tester si ces différences reflétaient des différences individuelles dans des traits. Quinze participants (entre 20 et 30 ans) qui avaient participé à des études précédentes d’apprentissage catégoriel ont accepté de participer aux sous-tests du raisonnement perceptuel du WAIS-IV et le Doors test du Doors & People test pour tester la mémoire visuelle. La performance dans la tkche d’apprentissage des catégories était corrélée positivement au raisonnement perceptuel et à la mémoire visuelle suite à des 3 corrélations partielles. Ces résultats confirment que les différences dans l’apprentissage des catégories seraient liées, au moins en partie, à des différences cognitives.
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