OBJECTIVE: The pathophysiology of fibromyalgia has been related to central pain sensitization. This study tested a laboratory protocol evaluating responses to slowly repeated evoked pain stimuli (SREP) that may index central pain sensitization in fibromyalgia. DESIGN: A between-subjects controlled laboratory study. SUBJECTS: Twenty-four fibromyalgia patients and 24 healthy participants. METHODS: A SREP protocol was administered to all subjects, consisting of a single series of nine low-intensity pressure stimuli of five-second duration and thirty-second interstimulus interval. Subjective evoked pain intensity was assessed with a visual analogical scale. Clinical fibromyalgia pain was assessed with the McGill Pain Questionnaire. RESULTS: Perceived pain intensity increased during the SREP protocol in fibromyalgia patients but not in healthy participants. Neither pain threshold nor pain tolerance was associated with SREP. Degree of SREP sensitization was associated with McGill Pain Questionnaire-Sensory ratings of fibromyalgia pain. The effect size for differences between the fibromyalgia and healthy control groups was greater, and the overlaps of the groups distributions lower, for SREP sensitization than for traditional evoked pain measures of pain threshold and tolerance. SREP demonstrated higher specificity in discriminating fibromyalgia and control groups relative to pain threshold or tolerance. CONCLUSIONS: A protocol employing a single series of nine low-suprathreshold-intensity slowly repeated pain stimuli elicits increased perceived pain in fibromyalgia patients, consistent with central sensitization despite relatively long interstimulus intervals. SREP appears to be more useful than traditional evoked pain threshold tolerance measures in terms of predicting levels of clinical pain and discriminating between fibromyalgia patients and healthy individuals.
OBJECTIVE: The pathophysiology of fibromyalgia has been related to central pain sensitization. This study tested a laboratory protocol evaluating responses to slowly repeated evoked pain stimuli (SREP) that may index central pain sensitization in fibromyalgia. DESIGN: A between-subjects controlled laboratory study. SUBJECTS: Twenty-four fibromyalgia patients and 24 healthy participants. METHODS: A SREP protocol was administered to all subjects, consisting of a single series of nine low-intensity pressure stimuli of five-second duration and thirty-second interstimulus interval. Subjective evoked pain intensity was assessed with a visual analogical scale. Clinical fibromyalgia pain was assessed with the McGill Pain Questionnaire. RESULTS: Perceived pain intensity increased during the SREP protocol in fibromyalgia patients but not in healthy participants. Neither pain threshold nor pain tolerance was associated with SREP. Degree of SREP sensitization was associated with McGill Pain Questionnaire-Sensory ratings of fibromyalgia pain. The effect size for differences between the fibromyalgia and healthy control groups was greater, and the overlaps of the groups distributions lower, for SREP sensitization than for traditional evoked pain measures of pain threshold and tolerance. SREP demonstrated higher specificity in discriminating fibromyalgia and control groups relative to pain threshold or tolerance. CONCLUSIONS: A protocol employing a single series of nine low-suprathreshold-intensity slowly repeated pain stimuli elicits increased perceived pain in fibromyalgia patients, consistent with central sensitization despite relatively long interstimulus intervals. SREP appears to be more useful than traditional evoked pain threshold tolerance measures in terms of predicting levels of clinical pain and discriminating between fibromyalgia patients and healthy individuals.
Authors: Stephen Bruehl; Frederic T Billings; Sara Anderson; Gregory Polkowski; Andrew Shinar; Jonathan Schildcrout; Yaping Shi; Ginger Milne; Anthony Dematteo; Puneet Mishra; R Norman Harden Journal: J Pain Date: 2022-04-22 Impact factor: 5.383
Authors: Carmen M Galvez-Sánchez; Cristina Muñoz Ladrón de Guevara; Casandra I Montoro; María José Fernández-Serrano; Stefan Duschek; Gustavo A Reyes Del Paso Journal: PLoS One Date: 2018-08-01 Impact factor: 3.240
Authors: Victor Pando-Naude; Fernando A Barrios; Sarael Alcauter; Erick H Pasaye; Lene Vase; Elvira Brattico; Peter Vuust; Eduardo A Garza-Villarreal Journal: Sci Rep Date: 2019-10-29 Impact factor: 4.379