Recent Pain Research areas

Spinal delivery of new pain relieving drug mixtures.

While for most patients with cancer, pain is well controlled with tablets or injections, sometimes extra types of pain relief are required. One type is called intrathecal analgesia. Here a patient has a small operation where a thin plastic tube connected to a drug pump is inserted under the skin and into the spine. Here pain is blocked in nerves before entering the brain. Patients treated this way normally find much better pain relief without the problem of drowsiness. With special care they can go home and return to normal activities.

Use of epidurals for pain relief and hastened recovery after heart surgery.

This study has recently been completed and the results have been sent for publication in a international journal. The main findings were that patients having an epidural as part of their pain-relief after heart surgery were more quickly able to breathe normally, without the need of life support machines.

Use of epidurals for relief of untreatable chest pain from heart disease.

Sometimes even the latest types of treatment can’t relieve the pain from heart disease (also called angina). In these cases patients can be treated with the use of a long-term epidural. This can allow them to leave hospital and enjoy normal activities.

Use of new drugs for pain relief in childbirth.