International Association for the Study of Pain--Ninth World congress. 22-27 August 1999, Vienna, Austria.

At this meeting, novel analgesic effects were described for a number of compounds. Gabapentin was significantly effective in the treatment of pain associated with phantom limb pain after amputation and traumatic avulsion of the brachial plexus. Capsaicin analog, EC-665, prevented referred viscero-somatic hyperalgesia associated with bladder inflammation. Indomethacine was compared with UP-454-21, a selective COX-2 inhibitor showing comparable effectiveness between both drugs in their anti-inflammatory/analgesic properties. Contralateral treatment with local anesthetics resulted in a long-lasting anti-inflammatory effect in unilateral carra-geenan-induced inflammation. Spinal neostigmine reduced spinal bupivacaine-induced hypotension while lamo-trigine showed a definite benefit in varied patients with neuropathic pain. Intra-articular administration of a ketorolac and morphine combination following arthroscopic knee surgery showed a significant decrease in postoperative pain and the need for postoperative analgesic. Oral CR oxycodone was shown to be an effective analgesic for the oral management of postoperative pain.