European Journal of Pain : EJP

BACKGROUND: Acute physical activity leads to exercise-induced hypoalgesia (EIH). However, to what degree it can be induced by very short but highly intensive exercise is largely unknown. This study aims to investigate the effects of two different short all-out isokinetic exercise sessions on EIH. METHODS: Twenty young male participants underwent three different interventions (90, 15 s all-out isokinetic cycling, respectively, and control) after an individualized low-intensity warm-up in a randomized-controlled-crossover design...

BACKGROUND: The ICD-11 classification of chronic pain comprises seven categories, each further subdivided. In total, it contains over 100 diagnoses each based on 5-7 criteria. To increase diagnostic reliability, the Classification Algorithm for Chronic Pain in the ICD-11 (CAL-CP) was developed. The current study aimed to evaluate the CAL-CP regarding the correctness of assigned diagnoses, utility and ease of use. METHODS: In an international online study, n = 195 clinicians each diagnosed 4 out of 8 fictitious patients...

BACKGROUND: People with high blood pressure have reduced sensitivity to pain, known as blood pressure hypoalgesia. One proposed mechanism for this is altered baroreceptor sensitivity. In healthy volunteers, stimulating the carotid baroreceptors causes reduced sensitivity to acute pain; however, this effect may be confounded by a rise in blood pressure due to baroreflex stimulation. The present study tests whether baroreceptor unloading contributes to the physiological mechanism of blood pressure-related hypoalgesia...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Recently, a consensus process specified a core outcome set (COS) of domains to be assessed in each comparative effectiveness research and clinical practice related to acute postoperative pain. Physical function (PF) was one of these domains. The aim of this review was to investigate which patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are used to assess PF after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in clinical trials and if they fulfil basic requirements for a COS of PROMs based on their psychometric properties...

BACKGROUND: Vagal activity has analgesic effects that are attributed to exercise-induced hypoalgesia (EIH). High vagal tone and low pain sensitivity are reported in individuals who routinely exercise yet, their association is unclear. Furthermore, it is unknown if the heightened vagal tone following high physical activity predicts and intensifies EIH. METHODS: Fifty-one healthy participants (27 low-moderately physically active; 27 females) underwent a resting-state electrocardiogram followed by heart rate variability analysis...

BACKGROUND: Although opioids are a mainstay for perioperative pain management in hip fracture patients, no studies have described changes in opioid use over the last two decades. The aim of this study was to describe time trends in opioid use in a population-based cohort of patients undergoing a first-time hip fracture surgery during 1997-2018. METHODS: Opioid-naïve hip fracture patients >55 years old were identified in Danish medical databases (n = 115,962)...

BACKGROUND: Radiating leg pain is common in patients with low back pain (LBP). In this study, we aimed to determine the prevalence and incidence of LBP with radiating leg pain in Dutch general practice, and to describe the prescribed medications and requested imaging diagnostics. METHODS: The Rijnmond Primary Care Database containing over 500,000 primary care patients was used to select patients ≥18 years with LBP with radiating leg pain between 2013 and 2021...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The relationship between chronic daily headache (CDH), depression symptoms, and brain volume remains unclear. METHODS: To investigate the effects of CDH on brain volume and the impact of depressive symptoms (DSs) as well as the effects of demography and medication overuse, PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases were systematically searched using appropriate keyword strings to retrieve observational studies from inception to May 2023...

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of emotion regulation skills-focused (ERSF) interventions to reduce pain intensity and improve psychological outcomes for people with chronic pain and to narratively report on safety and intervention compliance. METHODS: Six databases and four registries were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) up to 29 April 2022. Risk of bias was evaluated using the Cochrane RoB 2.0 tool, and certainty of evidence was assessed according to the Grading, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE)...

BACKGROUND: Persistent postsurgical pain (PPSP) after lung cancer surgery is common and current definitions are based on evaluations at a single time point after surgery. Pain intensity and symptoms may however fluctuate and change over time, and be impacted by multiple and shifting factors. Studies of postoperative recovery patterns and transition from acute to chronic pain are needed for further investigation of preventive measures and treatments to modify unfavourable recovery paths...

BACKGROUND: The current standard to evaluate the presence of somatosensory dysfunctions is quantitative sensory testing, but its clinical utility remains limited. Low-cost and time-efficient clinical sensory testing (CST) batteries have thus been developed. Recent studies show moderate to substantial reliability in populations with neuropathic pain. This study evaluates the inter- and intra-tester reliability of people with spine-related leg and arm pain, representing mixed pain mechanisms...

BACKGROUND: Thoracic epidural analgesia (TEA) and intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (IV-PCA) are widely used to mitigate immediate postoperative pain; however, their effects on long-term disability-free survival are poorly documented. This study aimed to compare the effects of postoperative TEA and IV-PCA on disability-free survival in patients who underwent thoracic or abdominal surgery. METHODS: This post hoc analysis of a prospective observational study included 845 inpatients aged ≥55 years that underwent elective thoracic and abdominal surgery between 1 April 2016 and 28 December 2018 in a tertiary care hospital...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The development, evaluation and implementation of digital self-management interventions for chronic pain have increased exponentially. While intervention outcomes appear promising to improve well-being and functioning in target populations, it is unclear how the development and evaluation processes were structured and how implementation was planned and executed. The aim of this systematic review is to provide a comprehensive overview of implementation frameworks used to guide and evaluate scientific innovation in chronic pain...

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Short-lasting unilateral neuralgiform headache attacks with conjunctival injection and tearing (SUNCT) and autonomic symptoms (SUNA) are trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias (TACs). The study explores the potential association between SUNCT/SUNA-like headaches and lateral pontine infarctions. METHODS: Case series and systematic review. RESULTS: We present three cases diagnosed with SUNCT following lateral pontine infarction on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), along with a review of these cases and 10 others from the literature...

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No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Measures of physical activity and pain-related patient-reported outcomes are important components of patient recovery after surgery. However, little is known about their association in the early post-operative period. This study aims to increase this knowledge. Our primary objective was to determine the association between average pain intensity and activity (in steps) 1 week after surgery. Secondary objectives were the association of activity with other patient-reported outcomes, age, sex, comorbidities and body mass index...

BACKGROUND: Women are more likely to experience multiple overlapping pain conditions (MOPCs) relative to men. Post-traumatic stress disorder can negatively impact the severity and trajectory of chronic pain and its treatment. Specific associations between gender, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and MOPCs require further examination. METHODS: A cohort of all Veterans in 2021 who met criteria for one or more of 12 chronic pain types was created using national Veterans Health Administration administrative data...

BACKGROUND: Cutaneous laser stimulation has commonly been employed to investigate the thermal properties of the nociceptive system. The aim of this study was to investigate how a temperature-controlled laser system improves the assessment of directional discrimination in the nociceptive system. METHODS: In total, twenty healthy volunteers participated in this study. To determine the directional discrimination threshold (stimulation length 50% correct, expressed in mm), thermal stimuli were delivered using a diode laser and the laser beam was perpendicularly displaced across the skin to give a linear stimulation in four different directions (distal, proximal, lateral and medial) and displacement lengths (3 for lateral-medial and 5 for distal-proximal)...

CONTEXT: The prevalence of persistent pain among breast cancer survivors (BCS) is high, and it is unclear what distinguishes those with persistent pain from those without. Research suggests that differences in somatosensory function evaluated by quantitative sensory testing (QST) may be responsible. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to describe somatosensory profiles in terms of hyper- and hypoesthesia in BCS with and without persistent pain using reference data from healthy controls...