Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33435895›Full record

Observational studyBMC medical imaging2021

The physician as a success determining factor in CT-guided pain therapy.

Christoph A Stueckle, Benedikt Hackert, Sarah Talarczyk, Martin Wawro, Patrick Haage, Ulrich Weger

Abstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in BMC medical imaging, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Observational
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Christoph A StueckleFaculty of Health, Witten/Herdecke University, Witten, Germany. c.stueckle@radiologie-do.de.ORCID 0000-0003-3911-7823
Benedikt HackertDepartment of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Witten/Herdecke University, Witten, Germany.
Sarah TalarczykFaculty of Health, Witten/Herdecke University, Witten, Germany.
Martin WawroDepartment of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Witten/Herdecke University, Witten, Germany.
Patrick HaageFaculty of Health, Witten/Herdecke University, Witten, Germany.
Ulrich WegerDepartment of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Witten/Herdecke University, Witten, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundBack pain is a common problem and a burden for the patient. MR-morphologically proven pain-causing changes of the spine is often successfully treated utilizing CT-guided pain therapy. The CT-guided execution enables a controlled and reproducible therapy. Nevertheless, treatment results can differ even with the same patient; the physician is a possible influencing factor of the outcome. Accordingly, the present study analyzes the different behaviors and forms of communication of the treating physicians during the course of the intervention as factors influencing the outcome of treatment.

methods67 patients suffering from specific back pain were included in this study. 5 treating physicians (2 female, 3 male) of different age (29-63 years), and experience and a total of 244 CT-guided treatments were included in this study. In every case a psychologist observed the treatment based on a standardized observation protocol. Observed were both the verbal and non-verbal interactions as well as the reaction of patient and physician. The success of the therapy was measured in the course of the treatment using the visual analogue pain scale. The technical comparability of the performed CT-guided periradicular therapy was ensured by the distribution of the drug mixture.

resultsThe outcome is significantly better if the patient considers the treating physician to be competent (correlation coefficient: 0.24, p < 0.006) and feels understood (correlation coefficient: 0.29, p < 0.001). In addition, the outcome is better when the physician believes that the treatment brings a positive reduction of pain, underlining his belief with positive statements of affirmation before the intervention thus creating a positive atmosphere [correlation coefficient: 0.24 (p < 0.009)]. In contrast, the outcome is worse if the patient complains about pain during the intervention [average pain reduction M = 0.9 (pain group) vs. M = 2.0 (no-pain group)].

conclusionOur study shows that with comparable implementation of CT-guided periradicular therapy, the outcome of the patient with specific back pain can be significantly improved by certain behavioral patterns of the performing physician and this without side effects and without significant additional time expenditure. Our findings indicate that there is a non-negligible psychological factor linking confidence in therapy to actual therapy success.

trial registrationThe study was designed as an observational study, therefore a trial registration was not necessary.

Indexed as

Clinical CompetencePhysician-Patient RelationsTomography, X-Ray ComputedAdultBack PainCommunicationFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPain ManagementTreatment OutcomeBack painCT guided therapyExpectation effectsPeriradicular therapyPhysician–patient relationshipPsychological cofactors

Identifiers

PMID33435895
PMCPMC7805076

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.