Journal of pediatric hematology/oncology
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J. Pediatr. Hematol. Oncol. · May 2016
Clinical Interpretation of Quantitative Sensory Testing as a Measure of Pain Sensitivity in Patients With Sickle Cell Disease.
Patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) display significantly lower mean/median thermal and mechanical pain thresholds compared with controls. This suggests impaired pain sensitivity where stimuli produce exaggerated pain. Despite these mean/median differences, clinicians need to understand if patients meet criteria for impaired pain sensitivity. ⋯ Impaired pain sensitivity to ≥1 testing modalities occurred in 81.8% of SCD patients. Determining impaired pain sensitivity thresholds increases clinical utility of QST. QST could be a screening tool to phenotype SCD pain, an outcome for pain interventional trials, or guide pain neurobiology investigations.