The sunburn pain model: the stability of primary and secondary hyperalgesia over 10 hours in a crossover setting.

It was our aim to study the within-day stability and between-day repeatability of ultraviolet B (UVB) light-induced primary and secondary hyperalgesia over 10 h. Twenty hours after UVB irradiation of a skin spot (r = 2.5 cm) on the upper leg of 8 healthy volunteers the areas of secondary hyperalgesia to pinprick and pain tolerance thresholds to heat (HPTT) and electrical stimuli (5 and 250 Hz, electrical pain tolerance thresholds [EPTT]) were assessed. Measurements were repeated for 10 h at 2-h intervals and in 2 different sessions. Large areas of secondary hyperalgesia to pin prick were observed (5995 mm 2 ; SD, 1645). Primary hyperalgesia was evidenced by significant decreases of HPTT (mean difference, 6.5°C; 95% confidence interval, 6.1-6.8; P < 0.001) and EPTT at 250 Hz (mean difference, 0.45 mA; 95% confidence interval, 0.13-0.78; P < 0.05) compared to normal skin. There was no trend within one session of either primary (P = 0.14 for HPTT) or secondary hyperalgesia (P = 0.95) and no difference between the two sessions (primary hyperalgesia, P = 0.28; secondary hyperalgesia, P = 0.07). The sunburn pain model provides a long time course of stable hyperalgesia with a high within-day stability and between-day repeatability for primary and secondary hyperalgesia.