European journal of pain : EJP
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In this clinical and psychophysical study, we aimed to verify whether patients with fibromyalgia with and without small-fibre pathology and patients with pure small-fibre neuropathy share common sensory phenotypes. ⋯ Our findings indicate that small-fibre damage is associated with distinct sensory phenotypes in patients with fibromyalgia and in patients with small-fibre neuropathy. The lack of phenotype differences between patients with fibromyalgia with and without small-fibre pathology and the relatively high frequency of the healthy phenotype in these patients highlight a complex relationship between small-fibre pathology and pain in patients with fibromyalgia.
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Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is an excruciating unilateral facial pain, which negatively affects patient's quality of life. Historically, it has been difficult to compare treatment efficacy due to the lack of standardized outcomes. In addition, patients' perspective has seldomly been acknowledged. The aim of this study was to reach consensus on what outcomes of treatment are important to different TN stakeholders (patients, clinicians and researchers), to identify the TN Core Outcome Set (TRINCOS). ⋯ Implementation of a 10-item core outcome set in trigeminal neuralgia will improve comparability between studies allowing patients to have faster access to better treatments.
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Virtual reality hypnosis (VRH) has emerged as a new and promising option for pain management. Nonetheless, neural dynamics of pain modulation during VRH have not been investigated yet. The aim of this study was to measure the effects of VRH on pain, combining neurophysiological and self-reported measurements. ⋯ VRH decreases experimental pain perception, increases subject level of dissociation and modulates cerebral pain processing mechanisms. Pain can be managed with analgesic medication but also through complementary interventions. Among these, hypnosis and virtual reality (VR) are known to reduce pain for patients and healthy individuals. In recent years, an innovative technique combining hypnosis and VR has been proposed to help patients in managing pain. However, to our knowledge, no study has focused on the underlying mechanisms of this VR/hypnosis combination. We showed that VR combined with hypnosis decreases experimental pain, increases dissociation and influences EEG modulation.