The Journal of neuropsychiatry and clinical neurosciences
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J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci · Jan 2014
Somatosensory investigation of patients with orofacial pain compared with controls.
The objective of this study was to investigate the sensorial characteristics of orofacial pain in patients compared with control subjects. A total of 336 subjects (282 patients and 54 control subjects) were evaluated to identify their thermal (cold and warm), tactile, and pain thresholds. ⋯ Patients with trigeminal postherpetic neuralgia and burning mouth syndrome showed loss of thermal perception; patients with postherpetic neuralgia, burning mouth syndrome, and posttraumatic painful neuropathy had a decrease in tactile perception compared with the control subjects (p<0.001). In conclusion, other sensorial modalities besides pain are affected by neuropathic orofacial pain; these findings can help in the understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms in orofacial pain.