European journal of pain : EJP
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Pain among children is common, yet far less studied compared to that among adults. Little has been reported regarding various types of pain in a national community sample of German children. ⋯ The rather high pain prevalence suggests pain among children may be a potential public health issue. Further studies are required to investigate the characteristics and correlational attributes of children suffering most frequently from pain and children from families with low socioeconomic status.
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The use of anesthetics to stabilize animals for the purpose of electroacupuncture (EA) analgesic studies can be problematic because of the interference of differential physiological responses to EA and pain. In this study, EA-induced physiological profiles were surveyed under a sub-minimal alveolar concentration (sub-MAC) of two different anesthetics in a previously proposed minimal stress model. First, to select an adequate concentration, compliance with EA and tail-flick stimulation was evaluated under various concentrations of halothane and isoflurane. ⋯ The ratios of EA non-responders in the isoflurane and halothane groups were 32.4% and 26.7%, respectively, without statistical difference. We concluded that sub-MAC halothane and isoflurane provide optimal conditions for the study of EA-induced analgesia in rats. In this model, 0.75% isoflurane appears to be a better choice than 0.5% halothane in terms of EA compliance.
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Sex differences in pain perception have been reported in an expanding literature based on adult samples in epidemiological as well as laboratory studies. Especially with respect to the latter, studies with children and adolescents do not consistently show that females report higher pain ratings and display lower pain tolerance than males. The first aim of the presented studies is to comparably examine sex differences in children and adolescents based on experimental and questionnaire approach indices of pain perception. ⋯ In Study 2, sex differences are also present for masculinity, femininity, catastrophizing as well as pain self-efficacy. However, while the relation between sex and the CPT rating is partially mediated by pain self-efficacy, catastrophizing partially mediates the relation between sex and the questionnaire based pain ratings. The results of both studies are discussed with respect to the difference between experimental assessments of pain perception and assessments by questionnaire in children and adolescents.
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Patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) are administered fewer analgesics and report less clinical pain compared with their cognitively-intact peers, prompting much speculation about the likely impact of neurodegeneration on pain perception and processing. This study used functional connectivity analysis to examine the impact of AD on the integrated functioning of brain regions mediating the sensory, emotional, and cognitive aspects of pain. Fourteen patients with AD and 15 controls attended two experimental sessions. ⋯ Between-group comparisons revealed enhanced functional connectivity between the DLPFC and the anterior mid cingulate cortex, periaqueductal grey, thalamus, hypothalamus, and several motor areas in patients with AD compared with control group. Likewise, inter-regional functional connectivity across most regions of the predefined pain network was shown to be greater in the patient group, with the enhanced functional connectivity centred on three nodes: the DLPFC-R, hypothalamus, and PAG. The results of this study support previous research suggesting an interplay between pain and cognitive processes in patients with AD.
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The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of acute trapezius pain, induced by delayed onset of muscle soreness (DOMS), on habitual trapezius activity. Long-term (5 h) surface electromyographic (sEMG) activity was recorded bilaterally from the clavicular, descending, transverse, and ascending trapezius on two consecutive weekdays in eleven female subjects (mean age 22 years, range 20-24 years). Body and arm posture were recorded by inclinometers. ⋯ In contrast, trapezius sEMG activity remained unchanged for all other trapezius parts and postures. This study indicates that acute trapezius pain induces elevated habitual trapezius activity during periods with low biomechanical loading of the shoulder/neck muscles with the elevated sEMG activity being restricted to the painful part of the muscle. In contrast to the pain-adaption model, the current study indicates a relation between acute muscle pain and elevated low-level muscle activity; however, it remains unknown if development of chronic muscle pain can be preceded by an initial stage with elevated muscle activity.