The role of sensitization in musculoskeletal shoulder pain
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Peripheral and central sensitization are neurophysiological processes that can prolong painful conditions. Painful shoulder conditions are often persistent, perhaps due to the presence of sensitization.This manuscript summarizes six studies that have evaluated those with musculoskeletal shoulder pain for the presence of sensitization.All six manuscripts report evidence of peripheral sensitization, while central sensitization was described in five of the studies. The chronicity of symptoms in subjects who were included in the studies is probably influencing this finding. The primary somatosensory test used to assess sensitization in these studies was Pressure Pain Threshold, a test for lowered nociceptive thresholds.It appears that peripheral sensitization manifests consistently in those with musculoskeletal shoulder pathology, probably due to the inflammatory processes related to tissue injury. Central sensitization, while not universally present, was reported in a majority of the manuscripts. Because central sensitization is thought to be a key step on the pathway to chronic pain, evidence for its presence in those with shoulder pain is significant. Clinicians should expect the presence of sensitization with shoulder pathology and make appropriate choices about interventions so as not to exacerbate pain.Keywords:
Central Sensitization
Quantitative sensory testing
Intraoral somatosensory sensitivity in patients with atypical odontalgia (AO) has not been investigated systematically according to the most recent guidelines. The aims of this study were to examine intraoral somatosensory disturbances in AO patients using healthy subjects as reference, and to evaluate the percent agreement between intraoral quantitative sensory testing (QST) and qualitative sensory testing (QualST). Forty-seven AO patients and 69 healthy control subjects were included at Universities of Washington, Malmö, and Aarhus. In AO patients, intraoral somatosensory testing was performed on the painful site, the corresponding contralateral site, and at thenar. In healthy subjects, intraoral somatosensory testing was performed bilaterally on the upper premolar gingiva and at thenar. Thirteen QST and 3 QualST parameters were evaluated at each site, z-scores were computed for AO patients based on the healthy reference material, and LossGain scores were created. Compared with control subjects, 87.3% of AO patients had QST abnormalities. The most frequent somatosensory abnormalities in AO patients were somatosensory gain with regard to painful mechanical and cold stimuli and somatosensory loss with regard to cold detection and mechanical detection. The most frequent LossGain code was L0G2 (no somatosensory loss with gain of mechanical somatosensory function) (31.9% of AO patients). Percent agreement between corresponding QST and QualST measures of thermal and mechanical sensitivity ranged between 55.6% and 70.4% in AO patients and between 71.1% and 92.1% in control subjects. In conclusion, intraoral somatosensory abnormalities were commonly detected in AO patients, and agreement between quantitative and qualitative sensory testing was good to excellent.
Quantitative sensory testing
Sensory threshold
Somatosensory evoked potential
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Somatosensory changes in Chinese temporomandibular disorders (TMD) arthralgia patients have not been fully studied by the latest technologies.This study aims at assessing somatosensory changes in Chinese TMD arthralgia patients quantitatively.Standardised quantitative sensory testing (QST) was performed on the pain sites and contralateral sites of 40 patients diagnosed with TMD arthralgia according to the Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (DC/TMD) before and after medication; similar measures were taken in 40 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. Differences within and between groups were assessed through Z-scores, two-way ANOVA and loss/gain coding system.The pain sites of patients presented increased sensitivity to thermal stimuli and mechanical pain stimuli together with decreased sensitivity to mechanical tactile stimuli before medication (P < .001). Before treatment, 100% of patients had somatosensory abnormalities at the pain sites; the most frequent abnormalities were somatosensory gain to cold nociceptive, pinprick and pressure stimuli, and the most frequent loss/gain score was L0G3 (no somatosensory loss with a gain of thermal and mechanical somatosensory function; 70.0%). After treatment, although the clinical symptoms and signs of 40 patients disappeared, 80.0% of the patients' pain sites still showed multiple phenotype abnormalities. The most frequent loss/gain score was L0G2 (no somatosensory loss with a gain of mechanical somatosensory function; 35.0%).Multiple phenotypes of facial somatosensory abnormalities were detected in Chinese TMD arthralgia patients before and after treatment, despite the disappearance of clinical signs and symptoms. Individual variations indicate a possible need for subgroup classification, individualised management and mechanism-based treatment.
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Somatosensory evoked potential
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Peripheral and central sensitization are neurophysiological processes that can prolong painful conditions. Painful shoulder conditions are often persistent, perhaps due to the presence of sensitization.This manuscript summarizes six studies that have evaluated those with musculoskeletal shoulder pain for the presence of sensitization.All six manuscripts report evidence of peripheral sensitization, while central sensitization was described in five of the studies. The chronicity of symptoms in subjects who were included in the studies is probably influencing this finding. The primary somatosensory test used to assess sensitization in these studies was Pressure Pain Threshold, a test for lowered nociceptive thresholds.It appears that peripheral sensitization manifests consistently in those with musculoskeletal shoulder pathology, probably due to the inflammatory processes related to tissue injury. Central sensitization, while not universally present, was reported in a majority of the manuscripts. Because central sensitization is thought to be a key step on the pathway to chronic pain, evidence for its presence in those with shoulder pain is significant. Clinicians should expect the presence of sensitization with shoulder pathology and make appropriate choices about interventions so as not to exacerbate pain.
Central Sensitization
Quantitative sensory testing
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Central Sensitization
Central pain
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This critical review describes key methodological aspects for a successful oro-facial psychophysical evaluation of the somatosensory system and highlights the diagnostic value of somatosensory assessment and management perspectives based on somatosensory profiling.This topical review was based on a non-systematic search for studies about somatosensory evaluation in oro-facial pain in PubMed and Embase.The recent progress regarding the psychophysical evaluation of somatosensory function was largely possible due to the development and application of valid, reliable and standardised psychophysical methods. Qualitative sensory testing may be useful as a screening tool to rule out relevant somatosensory abnormalities. Nevertheless, the patient should preferably be referred to a more comprehensive assessment with the quantitative sensory testing battery if confirmation of somatosensory abnormalities is necessary. Moreover, the identification of relevant somatosensory alterations in chronic pain disorders that do not fulfil the current criteria to be regarded as neuropathic has also increased the usefulness of somatosensory evaluation as a feasible method to better characterise the patients and perhaps elucidate some underpinnings of the so-called 'nociplastic' pain disorders. Finally, an additional benefit of oro-facial pain treatment based on somatosensory profiling still needs to be demonstrated and convincing evidence of somatosensory findings as predictors of treatment efficacy in chronic oro-facial pain awaits further studies.Psychophysical evaluation of somatosensory function in oro-facial pain is still in its infancy but with a clear potential to continue to improve the assessment, diagnosis and management of oro-facial pain patients.
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In the Netherlands, 18% of the adults suffer from chronic pain.
Detection of central sensitization would
provide information about the patients nociceptive system that could enable mechanism-based therapy. The aim of this thesis was to set-up a process for the outpatient pain clinic in St. Antonius Hospital
for the detection of central sensitization in chronic pain patients with electrical Quantitative Sensory
Testing (eQST).
The preliminary results did not show significant differences in pain threshold for chronic low back
patients compared to healthy controls (t(95)=-0.131, p=0.896). The CSI score did show a significant
difference between the two populations (t(95)=5.395, p<0.001). Regarding of the baseline characteristics,
only gender seemed to be an influence related to the pain threshold.
This thesis offers a clinical process aligned with current clinical practice at the outpatient pain clinic
to eventually detect and monitor central sensitization. The monitoring process has successfully been
implemented at St. Antonius Hospital. So far, no differences between CLBP and healthy controls
in pain threshold were found, however still too few pain patients have been
included. Subsequently, it is too early to draw conclusions from these preliminary results. Thereby is
recommended to include more patients to evaluate the monitoring process of central sensitization.
Central Sensitization
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Outpatient clinic
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Preliminary results from a cross-sectional study that investigated the relation between the presence of post-stroke shoulder pain and somatosensory and nociceptive changes are presented. The main finding is that both abnormal somatosensation and nociception are more frequently observed in stroke patients with pain as compared to pain-free stroke patients and healthy controls.
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Premovement neuronal activity
Secondary somatosensory cortex
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Central Sensitization
Central pain
Open peer review
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Chronic pain is a frequent and burdensome nonmotor symptom of Parkinson's disease (PD). PD-related chronic pain can be classified as nociceptive, neuropathic, or nociplastic, the former being the most frequent subtype. However, differences in neurophysiologic profiles between these pain subtypes, and their potential prognostic and therapeutic implications have not been explored yet. This is a cross-sectional study on patients with PD (PwP)-related chronic pain (ie, started with or was aggravated by PD). Subjects were assessed for clinical and pain characteristics through questionnaires and underwent quantitative sensory tests and motor corticospinal excitability (CE) evaluations. Data were then compared between individuals with nociceptive and non-nociceptive (ie, neuropathic or nociplastic) pains. Thirty-five patients were included (51.4% male, 55.7 ± 11.0 years old), 20 of which had nociceptive pain. Patients with nociceptive PD-related pain had lower warm detection threshold (WDT, 33.34 ± 1.39 vs 34.34 ± 1.72, P = .019) and mechanical detection threshold (MDT, 2.55 ± 1.54 vs 3.86 ± .97, P = .007) compared to those with non-nociceptive pains. They also presented a higher proportion of low rest motor threshold values than the non-nociceptive pain ones (64.7% vs 26.6%, P = .048). In non-nociceptive pain patients, there was a negative correlation between WDT and non-motor symptoms scores (r = -.612, P = .045) and a positive correlation between MDT and average pain intensity (r = .629, P = .038), along with neuropathic pain symptom scores (r = .604, P = .049). It is possible to conclude that PD-related chronic pain subtypes have distinctive somatosensory and CE profiles. These preliminary data may help better frame previous contradictory findings in PwP and may have implications for future trial designs aiming at developing individually-tailored therapies. PERSPECTIVE: This work showed that PwP-related nociceptive chronic pain may have distinctive somatosensory and CE profiles than those with non-nociceptive pain subtypes. These data may help shed light on previous contradictory findings in PwP and guide future trials aiming at developing individually-tailored management strategies.
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