Second pain event related potentials to argon laser stimuli: recording and quantification.

A non-invasive technique for quantification of argon laser induced burning second pain (C-fibre) is suggested. Using frequency analysis event related responses to burning pain can be detected in the EEG interval 1-2 seconds after laser stimulation. When the laser stimulus induced a burning pain perception, the power from 0.5-2.5 Hz of the EEG interval 1-2 seconds after stimulation differed significantly from the power calculated from the same time interval when no burning pain was perceived.