Funct Neurol
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By stimulating the sural nerve at the retromalleolar level and recording EMG response from biceps femoris muscle two components can be evoked: RII (shorter latency, lower threshold, non-nociceptive) and RIII (longer latency, higher threshold, nociceptive). RIII reflex represents a useful tool for pain research in humans since a close correlation exists between the reflex threshold and that of pain. ⋯ RIII threshold was significantly lowered in children, while the other parameters were similar in both groups. Our data suggest the existence of a reduced inhibitory descending control in nociceptive spinal neurones in children.
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The term "sympathetically maintained pain" does not imply that the pains are due to the sympathetic system. It is not a matter of excessive or decreased sympathetic activity. ⋯ This fact suggests that we are not concerned primarily with abnormal states induced by the sympathetic system, but with a general kind of abnormality of the total nervous system. This phenomenon may be relieved by removal of the sympathetic nerves to the relevant neurons of the periphery.