Der Schmerz
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Since the ban of phenacetin and barbiturates in analgesics, caffeine as a constituent of analgesics has recently more often been blamed for promoting the abuse of analgesics. The available relevant literature was reviewed to perform a benefit/risk analysis. The results were as follows. ⋯ This however might cause a higher and unpredictable risk (e.g., gastrointestinal bleeding) with proper use in exchange for of a reduction in the predictable risk with misuse or abuse. This would raise major ethical and legal issues. Minimizing one special risk does not automatically reduce the overall risk.
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The relationship between painful pressure stimuli and induced pain intensity was examined. For experimental pain stimulation in 26 subjects, randomized local pressure on the middle phalanxes of fingers II-IV was used (pressure area 2.56 mm(2), six different pressure levels, three different pressure times). The induced pain intensity was measured by the category splitting procedure. ⋯ The intraindividual and interindividual deviations are normally distributed. The retest reliability between measurements in the morning and in the evening amount to 0.98. Thus, the procedure can be used to objectify the pain intensity experienced.