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Background: The Thai Association for the Study of Pain was established 20 years ago with the aim of educating the members and health care providers for pain management and pain research., Objective: Evaluate the progression of pain research by literature survey on Thai journals, since the beginning of TASP MATERIAL AND METHOD: Pain related original articles, except for the abstracts, proceedings, case reports, and review articles, published in eight Thai journals between 1990 and 2009 were searched, Results: The number of pain related articles was 233. The number of articles slowly but gradually increased during 1990 to 2002, drastically increased during 2004 and 2005, and then slightly decreased until 2009. About 75% of the papers were published in Thai language except for those published in one journal that has been published in English. The most common content of articles was related to the acute pain (75%) contributed by anesthesiologists., Conclusion: Pain research has been significantly increasing since the TASP was founded, especially in the last 10 years. The most common area of research is in the field of acute pain. The majority of the articles were published in Thai language.

Background and Objective: A prophylactic antibiotic in retrograde investigations (Ix) such as an urodynamic study was suggested by the European Association of Urology in order to prevent urinary tract infection (UTI) in the neurogenic bladder However finding an appropriate antibiotic is questionable since bacterial types and their sensitivities are variable in different settings. Therefore, the present study was aimed to find out the epidemiology of UTI in spinal cord injured (SCI) patients within the rehabilitation ward at Siriraj Hospital., Material and Method: A retrospective chart review of 100 SCI patients admitted to the rehabilitation ward between 2006 and 2010 was done. Symptomatic UTI events, urine cultures, and sensitivities (C/S) were reviewed Demographic data and possible UTI-associated factors were collected and examined the association with the occurrence of UTI RESULTS: There were 64 males and 36 females with a mean age of 42.9 (SD 15.8) years. Most of them (77%) were injured at cervical and thoracic spinal cords. Forty-five patients had 57 UTI episodes. Escherichia coli was the most common isolated pathogen (50%), followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (17.3%), and Enterococcus faecalis (7.7%). The top three most sensitive antibiotics were imipenem, amikacin, and piperacillin/tazobactam. Unfortunately, gentamicin, ceftriaxone, and ciprofloxacin, which were frequently used as a prophylactic antibiotic, had the efficacy for only 51.9%, 38.5%, and 28.8% ofpathogens respectively. The mean length ofstay ofpatients with UTI was far greater than non-UTI patients, 45.5 (SD 24.4) versus 30.4 (SD 14.8) days (p = 0.001). Vesicoureteric reflux (VUR) (OR 21.2, 95% CI2.1 to 214.2) and increased intravesical pressure at storage phase (OR 1.1, 95% CI 1.004-1.113) were significant riSk factors for post investigation UTI., Conclusion: UTI was commonly observed in SCI patients within the rehabilitation ward The most common uropathogen was Escherichia coli. Therefore, a prophylactic antibiotic such as amikacin should be prescribed in patients with VUR and increased intravesical pressure at storage phase.

Objective: To compare the quality of life (QOL) before and after intensive rehabilitation of disabled patients and to examine the factors associated with the change in QOL., Material and Method: A retrospective chart review of 200 disabled patients who were admitted for intensive rehabilitation between 2006 and 2009. The Thai abbreviated version of World Health Organization quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF-THAI) was used to assess QOL. Demographic data, physical and psychosocial status, Modified Barthel ADL Index (BAI) were collected and analyzed for the association with WHOQOL-BREF-THAI score changes., Results: One hundred seventeen (58.5%) males and 83 (41.5%) females with mean age 55.6 (SD 17.9) years old participated in this study. Various principal diagnoses were included; 112 (56%) stroke, 54 (27%) spinal cord injury and 34 (17%) other diagnoses. After the intensive rehabilitation, quality of life perception was improved in 164 (82%) disabled patients. There was significant difference in mean WHOQOL-BREF-THAI scores on admission and at discharge which were 81.3 (SD 11.2) and 85.5 (SD 11.0) respectively with the p-value < 0.001. The mean changed score was 4.2 (SD 8.0). However, four domains of QOL were improved except the social domain. The factors associated with the disabled patients who were non-improved in WHOQOL-BREF-THAI score after rehabilitation were having non-familial caregiver (OR 5.8, 95% CI 2.1 to 16.0) and joint stiffness (OR 4.1, 95% CI 1.7 to 9.9)., Conclusion: Intensive inpatient rehabilitation can significantly improve quality of life in the disabled patients with various primary diagnoses. Having joint stiffness prior to rehabilitation and non-availability of familial members for taking care are the factors associated with the poor outcome in QOL perception.

Objective: To study the prevalence and associated factors of musculoskeletal (MS) pain among the dental personnel. In addition, impacts and treatment of MS pain were reported., Material and Method: Random sampling of 390 participants from the name lists of dental personnel working in each department. Self-administered questionnaires were equally distributed to three groups of dental personnel namely clinical instructors, postgraduate students, and dental assistants. The present study was conducted as a survey in the Faculty of Dentistry, Mahidol University, Bangkok between December 2008 and January 2009., Results: Three hundred and ninety questionnaires were delivered and 164 questionnaires were returned (response rate 42.5%). The participants with MS pain were 32 clinical instructors (20.3%), 52 postgraduate students (32.9%), and 74 dental assistants (46.8%). Their mean age was 33.0 +/- 9.1 years old. The MS pain found respectively was shoulder pain 72.2% (n = 114), neckpain 70.3% (n = 111), and low backpain 50.6% (n = 80). The participants with shoulder and neckpain were combined and defined as cervicobrachial pain. The associated factor of cervicobrachial pain was working status. Being a clinical instructor and postgraduate student were associated with cervicobrachial pain with OR being 4.7 [1.3, 7.1] and 4.6 [1.6, 13.4], respectively. The impacts of MS pain among the dental personnel included usage of pain relieving medication (34.8%), seeking medical evaluation (32.3%), reduction in working hours (27.2%), difficulty sleeping (22.8%), and work absence (10.8%), respectively. The treatments of MS pain utilized to alleviate those impacts were Thai traditional massage (51.9%), medication (28.5%), physical therapy (15.8%), acupuncture (7.6%), and alternative medicine (4.4%), respectively., Conclusion: Cervicobrachial pain was the most prevalent MS pain among the dental personnel and working status was associated with their MS pain problems. The impact of MS pain was predominantly usage of pain relieving medication. Thai traditional massage was the most utilized treatment.