Pancreas
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Comprehensive experimental methods are of major relevance assessing pain mechanisms in patients with chronic pain. Chronic pancreatitis is thought to involve the sensory response in other visceral organs and somatic tissue. We, therefore, aimed at exploring the pain mechanisms in chronic pancreatitis (CP) using a multimodal and multitissue stimulation approach. ⋯ The findings suggest that the balance among central hyperexcitability, neuroplastic changes, and descending pain-modulating pathways may explain the pain response to experimental multimodal stimulations in CP. This will likely also reflect the clinical pain mechanisms and may have important impact in selection of treatment, where drugs with potential effects on these mechanisms should be used.