Biomedical subjects

L LeResche

Publications and source records attributed to L LeResche.

22 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1983

Cognitive reversal of expected nitrous oxide analgesia for acute pain.

In a laboratory experiment, the expected analgesic action of 33% nitrous oxide was reversed by creating the expectancy of heightened awareness of bodily sensations. Pain threshold and tolerance of electrical tooth-pulp stimulation were significantly reduced. Results from a control study gave us a basis for comparison of changes in the verbal expression of pain when nitrous oxide was administered without introducing expectancies beyond those already held by the subjects. Contrasting results from the experimental and control studies confirm the powerful role of mental processes in mediating pain experience.

Adult↗

PubMed1982

Limits of the 'Mini-Mental State' as a screening test for dementia and delirium among hospital patients.

With a psychiatrist's standardized clinical diagnosis as the criterion, the 'Mini-Mental State' Examination (MMSE) was 87% sensitive and 82% specific in detecting dementia and delirium among hospital patients on a general medical ward. The false positive ratio was 39% and the false negative ratio was 5%. All false positives had less than 9 years of education; many were 60 years of age or older. Performance on specific MMSE items was related to education or age. These findings confirm the MMSE's value as a screen instrument for dementia and delirium when later, more intensive diagnostic enquiry is possible; they reinforce earlier suggestions that the MMSE alone cannot yield a diagnosis for these conditions.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Diagnostic studies of temporomandibular disorders: challenges from an epidemiologic perspective.

UNLABELLED: Adequate data on the incidence, prevalence, natural history, and clinical course of temperomandibular disorders (TMD) and other chronic pain conditions are largely lacking, though the need to derive such basic data is recognized by clinicians, researchers, and public health agencies. This paper discusses challenges to the epidemiologic study of TMD diagnosis. These challenges include:• CASE DEFINITION: There is currently poor agreement regarding which combinations of clinical and psychosocial findings differentially define cases of TMD• Differentiation of normal variation v pathophysiologic signs: To what extent do commonly gathered clinical measurements constitute pathophysiologic signs of TMD v reflect normal biologic variation• Reliability of clinical measurement: Factors influencing reliability of clinical signs and reliability of examiners have not been adequately assessed• Progressive v self-limiting disease activity: Do TMD subtypes represent a continuum of pathologic disease activity, or nonmutually exclusive categories describing largely symptomatic pain conditions that are selflimiting or stable.It is recommended that epidemiologic studies not be constrained by a priori definitions of TMD subtypes, but continue to gather data on clinical signs and symptoms that have theoretical and clinical relevance to mandibular dysfunction and psychosocial status. An approach is proposed for development of reliable and valid criteria of TMD subtypes suitable for epidemiologic research.

Chronic Disease↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Analgesic action of intravenous diazepam.

Intravenous diazepam is commonly used in clinical dentistry to produce sedation for dental procedures. Its chief benefit seems to derive from its sedative and amnesic properties. The literature contains conflicting reports about the direct analgesic effects of the drug. In the present study, we observed significant increases for conventional pain threshold measures in response to electric tooth pulp stimulation and decreased sensitivity to a fixed painful stimulus when diazepam was administered intravenously using clinical criteria for conscious sedative dosages. The data support the possibility that intravenously administered diazepam in conscious sedative doses may have some analgesic action in addition to its better documented sedative and amnesic properties.

Adult↗