Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
3.9
3.3
Journals
Brain Sciences
Special Issues
Emerging Treatment Approaches for Chronic Pain Syndromes
share announcement

Emerging Treatment Approaches for Chronic Pain Syndromes

A special issue of Brain Sciences (ISSN 2076-3425). This special issue belongs to the section "Systems Neuroscience".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 September 2020) | Viewed by 13027

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Gianluca Castelnuovo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Milan, 20123 Milan, Italy
Interests: clinical health psychology; psychotherapy; obesity; eating disorders; chronic care management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Chronic pain is a relevant global health problem frequently associated with physical and functional impairment, psychological distress, social dysfunctions, reductions in quality of life, and significant direct and indirect costs. Traditional medical approaches are typically useful for treating chronic pain, but also emerging and innovative treatments, such as particularly biopsychosocial contributions or technology-based ones, could play an important role in pain management.

Modern clinical health psychology also focuses on the study of the psychological determinants in pain patients, such as the roles of depression, anxiety, pain-related disability, catastrophic thinking, psychological inflexibility, coping skills, beliefs, attitudes, expectations, self-efficacy, placebo and nocebo effects, etc. Different psychological models of pain and disability have tried to highlight the psychological processes behind pain.

The major objective of the present Special Issue is to collect new scientific evidence, clinical experiences, reviews, and opinion articles about innovative and emerging approaches in pain management and treatment, especially related to clinical health psychology, psychotherapy, and technology-based approaches. Moreover this Special Issue will focus on psychological factors, basic psychological processes, and theoretical models that could have an impact on the development of persistent pain and disability and implications for different therapies, considering psychological interventions in chronic pain.

Cutting-edge research:

  • Evidence-based psychological treatments;
  • Cost-effective emerging treatments for pain management;
  • Psychological determinants in pain management;
  • ACT (acceptance and commitment therapy) and mindfulness-based approach;
  • Placebo and nocebo;
  • Technology-based pain management approaches;
  • mHealth and eHealth in pain.

Particularly, this Special Issue will consider these types of studies:

  • Original research articles from both experimental and non-experimental (observational) study designs;
  • Review articles (preferably systematic reviews but narrative and scoping reviews are accepted);
  • Meta-analyses;
  • Clinical trials;
  • Clinical case studies and reports;
  • Perspective articles;
  • Cost-effectiveness and cost–utility studies.

Prof. Dr. Gianluca Castelnuovo
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Brain Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • pain management
  • psychological factors
  • psychotherapy
  • clinical psychology
  • health psychology
  • ACT
  • chronic pain
  • complementary–integrative–multidisciplinary–multimodal pain management
  • pain medicine
  • pain catastrophizing
  • placebo
  • nocebo
  • cost–utility
  • cost-effectiveness
  • emerging treatments
  • mHealth
  • eHealth

Published Papers (4 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

8 pages, 231 KiB  
Communication
The Association of Kinesiophobia and Pain Catastrophizing with Pain-Related Disability and Pain Intensity in Obesity and Chronic Lower-Back Pain
by Giorgia Varallo, Emanuele Maria Giusti, Federica Scarpina, Roberto Cattivelli, Paolo Capodaglio and Gianluca Castelnuovo
Brain Sci. 2021, 11(1), 11; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11010011 - 24 Dec 2020
Cited by 29 | Viewed by 4050
Abstract
Individuals affected by chronic lower-back pain and obesity have an increased risk of long-lasting disability. In this study, we aimed to explore the contribution of kinesiophobia and pain catastrophizing in explaining pain intensity and pain-related disability in chronic lower-back pain associated to obesity. [...] Read more.
Individuals affected by chronic lower-back pain and obesity have an increased risk of long-lasting disability. In this study, we aimed to explore the contribution of kinesiophobia and pain catastrophizing in explaining pain intensity and pain-related disability in chronic lower-back pain associated to obesity. A cross-sectional study on 106 participants with obesity and chronic lower-back pain was performed. We assessed pain intensity, pain disability, pain catastrophizing, and kinesiophobia levels through self-reporting questionnaire. Hierarchical regressions were performed to assess the role of pain catastrophizing and kinesiophobia on pain intensity and pain disability. According to the results, kinesiophobia, but not pain catastrophing, significantly explained both pain intensity and pain-related disability. Kinesiophobia might play a significant role in enhancing pain-related disability and the pain intensity in individuals with chronic lower-back pain and obesity. We encourage future studies in which beliefs and cognition towards pain might be a therapeutic target in interdisciplinary pain management interventions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Treatment Approaches for Chronic Pain Syndromes)
11 pages, 1678 KiB  
Article
Chronic Pain in Relation to Depressive Disorders and Alcohol Abuse
by Nasim Maleki and Marlene Oscar-Berman
Brain Sci. 2020, 10(11), 826; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci10110826 - 7 Nov 2020
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2632
Abstract
Chronic pain disorders have been associated separately with neuropsychiatric conditions such as depression and alcohol abuse. However, in individuals who suffer from non-cancer chronic pain disorders, it is not clear if the burden of depressive disorders is similar for those with and without [...] Read more.
Chronic pain disorders have been associated separately with neuropsychiatric conditions such as depression and alcohol abuse. However, in individuals who suffer from non-cancer chronic pain disorders, it is not clear if the burden of depressive disorders is similar for those with and without a history of alcohol abuse. Using data from the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys (CPES), we found depressive disorders to have a high burden in men and women with a history of alcohol abuse, independently of the presence or absence of chronic pain. We also found that, although the incidence of persistent depressive disorder was comparable in men and women with a history of alcohol abuse, and significantly higher than in control men and women, the incidence of a major depressive episode was higher in women with a history of alcohol abuse independently of the presence or absence of chronic pain. The age of onset of depressive disorders, independently of pain status, was younger for individuals with a history of alcohol abuse. The findings of this study have important implications for the clinical management of individuals who suffer from chronic pain comorbidly with depression and/or alcohol abuse. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Treatment Approaches for Chronic Pain Syndromes)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

10 pages, 235 KiB  
Article
The Predictive Role of Executive Functions and Psychological Factors on Chronic Pain after Orthopaedic Surgery: A Longitudinal Cohort Study
by Emanuele Maria Giusti, Chiara Manna, Giorgia Varallo, Roberto Cattivelli, Gian Mauro Manzoni, Samantha Gabrielli, Federico D’Amario, Marco Lacerenza and Gianluca Castelnuovo
Brain Sci. 2020, 10(10), 685; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci10100685 - 28 Sep 2020
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 2446
Abstract
Prevention and treatment of chronic post-surgical pain should be based on the early identification of patients at risk. The presence of a deficit in executive functions, along with the presence of psychological risk factors, could impair the use of appropriate pain coping strategies [...] Read more.
Prevention and treatment of chronic post-surgical pain should be based on the early identification of patients at risk. The presence of a deficit in executive functions, along with the presence of psychological risk factors, could impair the use of appropriate pain coping strategies and might facilitate the transition to chronic post-surgical pain. A longitudinal cohort study was implemented. Patients listed for orthopaedic surgery were enrolled. Variables measured before surgery were pain intensity, the sensory, affective, cognitive and mixed components of pain, state and trait variables associated with the psychological status of the patient, fear of movement, pain catastrophizing, visual attention and cognitive flexibility. Pain intensity and the components of pain were re-evaluated after surgery and after three months. A linear mixed model was used to assess the predictors of pain intensity, and a multivariate linear mixed model was used to assess the predictors of the pain components. 167 patients were enrolled. Controlling for sex, age, pain duration and surgical procedure, catastrophizing and visual attention were predictors of pain intensity at follow-up. The sensory component of pain was predicted by state anxiety, healthcare-related fears, pain catastrophizing and visual attention. Anxiety and catastrophizing were predictors of the affective and evaluative components of pain. The mixed component of pain was predicted by state anxiety, healthcare-related fears and pain catastrophizing. Executive functions, along with psychological risk factors, shape the course of post-surgical pain. The efficacy of preventive and rehabilitation treatment could be possibly enhanced if these factors are treated. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Treatment Approaches for Chronic Pain Syndromes)
15 pages, 5895 KiB  
Article
A Simple Pattern of Movement Is Not Able to Inhibit Experimental Pain in FM Patients and Controls: An sLORETA Study
by Eleonora Gentile, Katia Ricci, Eleonora Vecchio, Giuseppe Libro, Marianna Delussi, Antonio Casas-Barragàn and Marina de Tommaso
Brain Sci. 2020, 10(3), 190; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci10030190 - 24 Mar 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3460
Abstract
Motor cortex activation seems to induce an analgesic effect on pain that would be different between patients with fibromyalgia (FM) and control subjects. This study was conducted to analyze the changes of the laser-evoked potentials (LEPs) induced during a finger tapping task in [...] Read more.
Motor cortex activation seems to induce an analgesic effect on pain that would be different between patients with fibromyalgia (FM) and control subjects. This study was conducted to analyze the changes of the laser-evoked potentials (LEPs) induced during a finger tapping task in the FM patients and the controls employing a multi-dipolar analysis according to Standardized low resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (sLORETA) method. The LEPs from 38 FM patients and 21 controls were analyzed. The LEPs were recorded while subjects performed a slow and a fast finger tapping task. We confirmed that the difference between N1, N2 and P2 wave amplitudes between conditions and groups was not significant. In control subjects, the fast finger tapping task induced a modification of cortical source activation in the main areas processing laser stimulation from the moving hand independently from the movement speed. In summary, a simple and repetitive movement is not able to induce consistent inhibition of experimental pain evoked by the moving and the not moving hand in each group. It could interfere with LEP sources within the limbic area at least in control subjects, without inhibit cortical responses or explain the different pattern of motor and pain interaction in FM patients. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Treatment Approaches for Chronic Pain Syndromes)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-4
Back to TopTop