Acta dermato-venereologica
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Acta Derm. Venereol. · Jun 2016
Psychophysiological Processing of Itch in Patients with Chronic Post-burn Itch: An Exploratory Study.
A substantial proportion of patients with burn injury develop chronic itch, which can severely affect their quality of life. As found in research on chronic pain, different psychophysiological processes may also play a role in chronic itch, of which central sensitization, conditioned modulation, and attentional processes have been studied most frequently. ⋯ Results further suggest that the efficacy of itch modulation by an itch- or pain-conditioning stimulus or directing attention towards itch stimuli do not differ between these patients and controls. Further elucidation of the processes underlying post-burn itch may improve the early identification and treatment of burn patients developing chronic itch.