S214

DATA COLLECTION SYSTEMS FOR PAIN STUDIES

Chairman: S. E. Abram, Dept. of Anesthesiology, Medical College of Wisconsin,

Milwaukee, WI USA

422 Topical

Mon 4:00 \ r

ACC Room 1 1

Participants: _____I- _i

. R. Tasker, Div. of Neurosurgery, Dept. of Surgery, Univ. of Toronto, Toronto, ON Canada

& Dept. of Anaesthesia & Pain Relief Clinic, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle-upon-

M. Hoowbod, Dept. of Anesthesiology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI USA The ability of investigators at separate institutions depends upon the collection of data in a uniform fashion. Collaborative prospective studies require the rather tedious organization of history, physical exam and treatment data into a format that can be readily computerized. Retrospective studies involving multi- ple institutions are often impossible because of incompatibility of data. The development of a uniform data base will remove many of the obstacles to multi-center studies. A task force of the IASP has been working to develop such a data base. An extensive list of patient questions has been developed, allowing individual facilities to construct their own questionnaire using questions appropriate to their patient population. Questions about demographics, physical condition, and social and psychological variables are included. With the widespread adoption of uniform question formats, collaborative studies can be carried out utiliz- ing questions that are common to all institutions involved. Considerable work still needs to be done to develop follow-up questionnaires that evaluate response to treatment, to develop uniform methods of coding physical examination data and to code treatments and immediate responses to treatment. The ultimate simplification of database collection for pain studies will be the development of software packages that incorporate these data collection instruments. In this session we will discuss the database that has developed so far and solicit audience suggestion for its further development. We will also outline areas for further development of data collection and processing systems.

CENTRAL TRANSMITI’ERS OF PRIMARY AFFERENTS

Chairman: USA G.F. Gebhart, Dept. of Pharmacology, Univ. of Iowa, Iowa City, IA,

Participants: USA MA. Ru&, National Institute of Dental Research-NIH, Bethesda, MD

E. Solomon, Dept. of Medicine, Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA USA %. Vaskct, Dept. of Pharmacology, Indiana Univ., Indianapolis, IN USA

L. Yak&, Dept. of Anesthesia, Univ. of California, San Diego, CA USA

423 Topical

Mon 4:00 ACC Room 2

The central terminals of small diameter afferent neurons contain a diverse variety of substances, several of which are considered neurotransmitters of nociceptive information. Putative peptide (e.g., substance P and calcitonin gene-related peptide - CGRP) and excitatory amino acid (e.g., glutamate) neurotransmitters have been localized in afferent terminals in the spinal dorsal horn. When administered into the intrathecal space, these substances produce behaviors consistent with their putative role as nemotransmitters of noci- ceptive afferents. In addition, these putative neurotransmitters are co-localized in the same afferent terminals, suggesting complex interactions of released substances. Obviously, modulation of the release of these substances can lead to changes in spinal nociceptive transmission.

The presenters in this workshop will discuss new information about chemical transmitters of primary affer- ems: 1. Ruda will describe the localization of putative peptide neurotransmitters in the spinal dorsal horn. 2. Solomon will discuss modulation by morphine and clonidine of release in vitro of putative neuro-

transmitters. 3. Vasko will discuss modulation by prostaglandins of release in vitro of putative neurotransmitters. 4. Yaksh will discuss in viva release and modulation of putative spinal peptide transmitters.