European journal of pain : EJP
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Schizophrenia patients display impaired recognition of their own emotions and those of others and deficits in several domains of empathy. The first-person experience of pain and observing others in pain normally trigger strong emotional mechanisms. We therefore hypothesized that schizophrenia patients would display impaired recognition and categorization of both their own pain and the pain of others. ⋯ Schizophrenic patients have a deficit of the identification and categorization of pain both in themselves and in others.
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Several functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies use thermal pain stimuli to determine brain activation patterns during pain. Studies use either a standard temperature condition for all participants or an individualized temperature condition based on the individually determined pain threshold of the participant. The aim of the present study was to compare both conditions in the same participants. ⋯ The similar activation patterns between the two conditions suggest that it is not necessary to use individualized stimuli per se. The temperature of 46 °C appeared to be an adequate temperature for standardized stimulation to observe significant brain activations related to thermal pain.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Pre-medication with sublingual fentanyl did not relieve pain associated with bone marrow aspiration and biopsy: A randomized feasibility trial.
Bone marrow aspiration and/or biopsy (BMAB) is often an unpleasant and painful procedure in spite of local anaesthetic infiltration. This randomized placebo-controlled trial compared the pain relieving effect of sublingual fentanyl and placebo during BMAB. ⋯ The results suggest that sublingual fentanyl in a dose of 200 μg (100 μg in infirm patients) is not a feasible preventive analgesic during BMAB. Pain scores were similar and side effects more frequent in the fentanyl group than in the placebo group.
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Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional gastrointestinal disorder characterized by chronic abdominal pain. The transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) channel, which is involved in visceral pain signalling, has been shown to be up-regulated in IBS. Activation of TRPV1 leads to the release of neuropeptides, such as somatostatin and substance P (SP). We hypothesized that increased pain perception in IBS could be explained by increased transcription in TRPV1 and/or altered levels of neuropeptides. We therefore assessed the transcription of TRPV1 and the mucosal concentration of somatostatin and SP in IBS in comparison to healthy volunteers and patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) in remission as disease controls, and to ascertain their relationship to pain symptoms. ⋯ Increased transcription of TRPV1 may provide a possible explanation for pain generation in IBS. While the neuropeptides SP and somatostatin were both found to be increased in IBS, these changes are not sufficient to explain pain generation. Pain generation in IBS is probably explained by a complex redundancy in the regulation of local nociceptive mechanisms, which remains a subject of intensive investigation.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
The role of excess subcutaneous fat in pain and sensory sensitivity in obesity.
Previous studies suggest pain sensitivity may be decreased in obesity, but it is unknown whether this is a global or a site-specific phenomenon related to the amount of excess fat. ⋯ Obese participants are less sensitive than non-obese individuals, but only on areas with excess subcutaneous fat.