J Rheumatol
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Spontaneous chronic widespread pain in combination with hyperalgesia to pressure stimuli is the hallmark of fibromyalgia (FM). We tested whether muscular hyperalgesia can exist in a muscle without spontaneous pain, which could indicate a generalized hyperexcitability of the nociceptive system in patients with FM. ⋯ There is a state of central hyperexcitability in the nociceptive system in FM. This hyperexcitability can be revealed by excitation of intramuscular nociceptors in a muscle with no spontaneous pain.