utcspdev, Author at U of T Centre for the Study of Pain

UTCSP Research Update March 8, 2026

🔹 Evaluation of a mental health screening tool to determine the need for psychological interview for patients offered neuromodulation implant therapies for pain
Authors: Anuj Bhatia, Maggie Z. X. Xiao, Kathryn Curtis, Abigail Muere, Victoria Bains, Yasmine Hoydonckx, Pranab Kumar, Ehtesham Baig, Abeer Alomari
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41781150/

🔹 Sucrose analgesia for venepuncture in neonates
Authors: Mariana Bueno
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41775338/

🔹 Safety of Acetaminophen Use in Pregnancy: Review of Existing Evidence
Authors: Jonathan S. Zipursky
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41780800/

🔹 PAINscape—Exploring patient experiences with ketamine for chronic neuropathic pain: A qualitative study
Authors: Nandana Parakh, Paul Ritvo, Duminda N. Wijeysundera, Victoria Tucci, Mariela Leda, Mindy Lu, Gabriella Mattina, Janneth Pazmino-Canizares, Zaaria Thomas, Roshni Nayar, John G. Hanlon, Sérgio M. Pereira, Karim S. Ladha, Hance Clarke, Sakina J. Rizvi, Cheryl Pritlove, Akash Goel
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41798319/

🔹 The association between smoking and joint pain in women attending a specialized menopause clinic
Authors: Wendy Wolfman
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41774568/

🔹 Timing of intravenous dexamethasone and analgesia after brachial plexus block: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial
Authors: Anahi Perlas, Vincent Chan, Anthony James Short, Michael J. Busser, Ki-Jinn Chin, Jayanta Chowdhury, Ella Huszti, Qixuan Li
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39721764/

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UTCSP Research Update March 1, 2026

🔹 Patient Access to Opioids for Pain Management in Southeast Asia with a Focus on Timor-Leste: A Scoping Review
Authors: Clive Stevens, Alexandra Martiniuk
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41232627/

🔹 Spinal processing of spatiotemporally diverse tactile stimuli: Computational insights into allodynia and spinal cord stimulation
Authors: Laura Medlock, Steven A. Prescott
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41735055/

🔹 Access to interventional therapies for cancer pain: An exploratory survey of cancer pain experts
Authors: Anuj Bhatia
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41552768/

🔹 Chronic pain after decompression for degenerative cervical myelopathy: a pooled trajectory analysis of individual participant data
Authors: Alex B. Bak, Ali Moghaddamjou, Michael G. Fehlings
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41086299/

🔹 Tracking artificial intelligence use for publishing and reviewing in PAIN
Authors: Karen Deborah Davis
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41670354/

🔹 Reliability and stability of pain ratings and secondary hyperalgesia to experimental phasic heat pain across multiple days and weeks
Authors: Nathaniel W. De Vera, Spencer S. Abssy, David A. Seminowicz, Massieh Moayedi
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41765342/

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UTCSP Research Update February 22, 2026

🔹 Appendectomy for Chronic Abdominal Pain Caused by Appendiceal Neuroma
Authors: Jordana Herblum, Erin Kennedy, Andrea Covelli, Laura Targownik
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41728252/

🔹 Low-Dose Ketamine Infusions for Postoperative Analgesia in Patients on Chronic Opioid Therapy in General Inpatient Units: Safety Signals and Monitoring Needs in a Retrospective Cohort
Authors: David Carrasco Guariento, Amir Dadashian, Maggie Xiao, Christopher Brown, Debashish Chowdhury, Naveed Siddiqui
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41706581/

🔹 Interventions in the Middle Meningeal Artery for Refractory Headache: The Need for a Randomized Trial
Authors: Jose Danilo Bengzon Diestro, Rodrigo F. Rodrigues, Nathan Churchill, Duminda Wijeysundera, Manav Vyas, Tom Schweizer
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41698760/

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UTCSP Research Update February 15, 2026

🔹 Interictal burden, not ictal burden, drives work productivity impairment in headache disorders: insights from a Japanese cross-sectional study
Authors: Noboru Matsumoto
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41634554/

🔹 Associations of Cannabis and Tobacco Use with Suicide Attempt, Suicide Death, and Overdose Death Among Veterans Prescribed Opioid Analgesics
Authors: Peter C. Austin
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41692146/

🔹 Solace, a Therapeutic Conversational Agent for Management of Chronic Pain: Acceptability and Usability Study
Authors: P. Maxwell Slepian, Hance Clarke, Joel Katz, Stephanie Buryk-Iggers, Anna M. Lomanowska
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41711568/

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SEMINAR: Chronic Pain Following Spinal Cord Injury: Challenges and Management

The Faculty of Pharmacy is hosting: Innovations in Pharmaceutical Sciences Seminar to be held on THURSDAY, March 5, 2026, at 10:00 am in PB-850.

Seminar Presenter: Dr. Eva Widerstrom-Noga, Professor of Neurological Surgery, Rehabilitation Medicine, and the Principal Investigator of the Clinical Pain Research Laboratory of The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis

Seminar Title: Chronic Pain Following Spinal Cord Injury: Challenges and Management

Hosted by: Dr. Sara Guilcher

Dr. Widerstrom-Noga, DDS, PhD, is a Professor of Neurological Surgery, Rehabilitation Medicine, and the Principal Investigator of the Clinical Pain Research Laboratory of The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. Her work primarily concerns the extremely complex problem of persistent neuropathic pain after neurotrauma. Dr. Widerstrom-Noga’s educational background is in cross-disciplinary pain research (pain physiology and pain psychology) and in the clinical management of chronic pain.

Dr. Widerstrom-Noga has performed human pain research for more than three decades and in the field of spinal cord injury (SCI) for over 29 years. Her interests are influenced by her clinical background and interest in elucidating the underlying mechanisms of human pain and the cognitions and behaviors that determine the impact of pain. Dr. Widerstrom-Noga has used highly innovative methods including magnetic resonance spectroscopy to elucidate brain mechanisms and adapted outcome measures used in other chronic pain populations to people with SCI. She has also been instrumental in developing, presenting, and promoting the International SCI Pain Data Sets and the NINDS CDEs for SCI and Pain. She serves as the Chair or as a member in both National and International efforts to standardize pain outcome measures and pain classification, and clinical guidelines related to pain management.

Dr. Widerstrom-Noga has a strong interest in the perspectives of SCI stakeholders because these can significantly influence both the experience and management of pain. These perspectives have guided her recent research regarding multimodal non-pharmacological pain treatment approaches and pain education using both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Dr. Widerstrom-Noga’s laboratory investigates the effects of pain education and various neuromodulatory methods such as exercise, bodily illusions and tDSC. She has extensive interdisciplinary and translational clinical pain research experience in persons with neurotrauma, including the use of a wide spectrum of pain outcome measurements and pain phenotyping.

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UTCSP Research Update February 8, 2026

🔹 The transitional pain service: a narrative review on the approach to managing chronic post-surgical pain
Authors: Praveen K. Ganty, Dorothy Wong, Hance A. Clarke
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41642307/

🔹 Practice advisory for intravenous management of headache disorders in hospitalized patients: a review of the evidence and consensus recommendations
Authors: Yasmine Hoydonckx, Emeralda Burke, Marina Englesakis, Akash Goel, Himanshu Gupta
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40602807/

🔹 Evaluating the Statistical Robustness of Randomized Controlled Trials of Spinal Cord Stimulation for Pain through the Use of Fragility Index
Authors: Faraj W. Abdallah
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41376548/

🔹 Preoperative anxiety is associated with postoperative cardiovascular events, extubation delay, and pain in patients undergoing cardiac surgery: A prospective observational study
Authors: Malcolm Koo
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41653585/

🔹 Functional changes in health during and after pregnancy in people with spinal cord injury — an international cohort study
Authors: Claire Mazzia, Anne Berndl
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41646511/

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UTCSP Research Update February 1, 2026

🔹 Progress in mechanisms and therapy for fibromyalgia
Authors: Hance Clarke
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41420087/

🔹 Brain-immune correlates of quality of life in adolescents with chronic musculoskeletal pain
Authors: Jennifer N. Stinson, Massieh Moayedi
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41421736/

🔹 Intravenous dexmedetomidine and its effects on remifentanil-induced hyperalgesia and opioid consumption: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Authors: Naveed T. Siddiqui
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41619635/

🔹 Pain as a Driver of Myocardial Injury in Hip Fracture Patients: A HIP ATTACK Trial Secondary Analysis
Authors: James S. Khan
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41147656/

🔹 Item Reduction and Scoring of the Pediatric PainSCAN©: A Screening Tool for Pediatric Neuropathic Pain and Complex Regional Pain Syndrome
Authors: Giulia Mesaroli, Aileen M. Davis, Anthony V. Perruccio, Kristen M. Davidge, Fiona Campbell, Naiyi Sun, Jennifer N. Stinson
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41249025/

🔹 Individual differences in conditioned pain modulation are associated with alpha oscillations
Authors: Rima El-Sayed, Vaidhehi Veena Sanmugananthan, Joshua C. Cheng, Anton Rogachov, Natalie R. Osborne, Kasey S. Hemington, Ariana Besik, Junseok A. Kim, Rachael L. Bosma, Emily P. Mills, Benjamin T. Dunkley, Karen D. Davis
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40893004/

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UTCSP Research Update January 25, 2026

🔹 Inflammation and pain as interconnected targets in axial spondyloarthritis
Authors: Denis Poddubnyy
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41566074/

🔹 Non-Pharmacological Interventions for Managing Sickle Cell Crisis Pain: A Qualitative Study on Adolescents' and Caregivers' Experiences
Authors: Jennifer N. Stinson
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41577215/

🔹 Surgical Management Results in Lasting Pain Relief in Patients with Ischiofemoral Impingement Refractory to Nonoperative Treatment: A Systematic Review
Authors: Tyler M. Hauer
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41575629/

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Pain Resources

Please see the list of helpful resources below:

WEBSITES

www.Kidsinpain.ca

LINKS TO RESOURCES

Acknowledging Gender and Sex: Online course on improving the health and wellbeing of transgender people, offered by the Center of Excellence for Transgender Health https://prevention.ucsf.edu/transhealth/education/acknowledging-gender-sex
LGBTQ Training for Medical Providers: Online workshops and trainings on providing competent care for the LGBTQ community. https://lgbtq.ucsf.edu/education-training
Rainbow Health Ontario (RHO): education courses and training https://www.rainbowhealthontario.ca/education-training/
Trans PULSE Canada is a national community-based survey of the health and well-being of trans and non-binary people in Canada. https://transpulsecanada.ca/results/report-1/
Trans Care BC https://www.transcarebc.ca/education-centre
Trans and Gender Diverse ECHO https://camh.echoontario.ca/programs-tgdh/
McMaster University- https://transeducation.ca/

OTHER

Government of Canada. (2021, March). Canadian Pain Task Force report: An action plan for pain in Canada [Report]. Health Canada. https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/corporate/about-health-canada/public-engagement/external-advisory-bodies/canadian-pain-task-force/report-2021.html
Cragg, A., Hau, J. P., Woo, S. A., Kitchen, S. A., Liu, C., Doyle-Waters, M. M., & Hohl, C. M. (2019). Risk Factors for Misuse of Prescribed Opioids: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Annals of emergency medicine, 74(5), 634–646. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annemergmed.2019.04.019
Wang, L., Hong, P. J., Jiang, W., Rehman, Y., Hong, B. Y., Couban, R. J., Wang, C., Hayes, C. J., Juurlink, D. N., & Busse, J. W. (2023). Predictors of fatal and nonfatal overdose after prescription of opioids for chronic pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association Journal, 195(41), E1399–E1411. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.230459
Racine M. (2018). Chronic pain and suicide risk: A comprehensive review. Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry, 87(Pt B), 269–280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnpbp.2017.08.020
Joseph, M., Holden, L. & Kroneberg, S. (2025) A parent support model for intensive pediatric chronic pain rehabilitation. Pediatric Pain Letter, 27(1). https://pediatric-pain-letter.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/holden271.pdf
Recent systematic review on risk factors for prescribed opioid misuse (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annemergmed.2019.04.019) and predictors of fatal and nonfatal overdose after prescription of opioids for chronic pain: (https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.230459)
clinical guidelines from the DeGroot National Pain centre: https://npc.healthsci.mcmaster.ca/guidelines/

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UTCSP Research Update January 18, 2026

🔹 Editorial commitment to trust and integrity in science: implications for pain and anesthesiology research
Authors: Karen D. Davis, Joel Katz
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41530604/

🔹 Epidemiology and Risk Factors of Wrist Pain and Injury in Adolescent Artistic Gymnasts: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Authors: Stefania D. F. DiLeo, Atefeh Noori, Erin Day, Timothy A. Burkhart, Ryan A. Paul, Andrea H. W. Chan
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41552624/

🔹 Migraine, comorbidity, and risks of severe maternal and neonatal morbidity or mortality: A population-based cohort study
Authors: Carmela Melina Albanese, Susan J. Bondy, Christine Lay, Manav V. Vyas, Hilary K. Brown
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41536223/

🔹 Vulvodynia (chronic vulval pain)
Authors: Michal Sheinis
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41545061/

🔹 Causal evidence linking chronic pain genetics to late-onset asthma via the nervous system
Authors: Peter H. Her
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41547614/

🔹 Causality in Perioperative Acute Pain Research
Authors: Karim S. Ladha
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41552897/

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