Heat pain detection threshold is associated with the area of secondary hyperalgesia following brief thermal sensitization: a study of healthy male volunteers

TY - JOUR

T1 - Heat pain detection threshold is associated with the area of secondary hyperalgesia following brief thermal sensitization

T2 - a study of healthy male volunteers

AU - Hansen, Morten Sejer

AU - Wetterslev, Jørn

AU - Pipper, Christian Bressen

AU - Asghar, Mohammad Sohail

AU - Dahl, Jørgen Berg

PY - 2017/1/27

Y1 - 2017/1/27

N2 - Introduction: The area of secondary hyperalgesia following brief thermal sensitization (BTS) of the skin and heat pain detection thresholds (HPDT) may both have predictive abilities in regards to pain sensitivity and clinical pain states. The association between HPDT and secondary hyperalgesia, however, remains unsettled, and the dissimilarities in physiologic properties suggest that they may represent 2 distinctively different pain entities. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between HPDT and BTS-induced secondary hyperalgesia. Methods: A sample of 121 healthy male participants was included and tested on 2 separate study days with BTS (45°C, 3 minutes), HPDT, and pain during thermal stimulation (45°C, 1 minute). Areas of secondary hyperalgesia were quantified after monofilament pinprick stimulation. The pain catastrophizing scale (PCS) and hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) were also applied. Results: A significant association between HPDT and the size of the area of secondary hyperalgesia (p<0.0001) was found. The expected change in area of secondary hyperalgesia due to a 1-degree increase in HPDT was estimated to be −27.38 cm2, 95% confidence interval (CI) of −37.77 to −16.98 cm2, with an R2 of 0.19. Likewise, a significant association between HADSdepression subscore and area of secondary hyperalgesia (p=0.046) was found, with an estimated expected change in secondary hyperalgesia to a 1-point increase in HADS-depression subscore of 11 cm2, 95% CI (0.19–21.82), and with R2 of 0.03. We found no significant associations between secondary hyperalgesia area and PCS score or pain during thermal stimulation. Conclusion: HPDT and the area of secondary hyperalgesia after BTS are significantly associated; however, with an R2 of only 19%, HPDT only offers a modest explanation of the inter-participant variation in the size of the secondary hyperalgesia area elicited by BTS.

AB - Introduction: The area of secondary hyperalgesia following brief thermal sensitization (BTS) of the skin and heat pain detection thresholds (HPDT) may both have predictive abilities in regards to pain sensitivity and clinical pain states. The association between HPDT and secondary hyperalgesia, however, remains unsettled, and the dissimilarities in physiologic properties suggest that they may represent 2 distinctively different pain entities. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between HPDT and BTS-induced secondary hyperalgesia. Methods: A sample of 121 healthy male participants was included and tested on 2 separate study days with BTS (45°C, 3 minutes), HPDT, and pain during thermal stimulation (45°C, 1 minute). Areas of secondary hyperalgesia were quantified after monofilament pinprick stimulation. The pain catastrophizing scale (PCS) and hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) were also applied. Results: A significant association between HPDT and the size of the area of secondary hyperalgesia (p<0.0001) was found. The expected change in area of secondary hyperalgesia due to a 1-degree increase in HPDT was estimated to be −27.38 cm2, 95% confidence interval (CI) of −37.77 to −16.98 cm2, with an R2 of 0.19. Likewise, a significant association between HADSdepression subscore and area of secondary hyperalgesia (p=0.046) was found, with an estimated expected change in secondary hyperalgesia to a 1-point increase in HADS-depression subscore of 11 cm2, 95% CI (0.19–21.82), and with R2 of 0.03. We found no significant associations between secondary hyperalgesia area and PCS score or pain during thermal stimulation. Conclusion: HPDT and the area of secondary hyperalgesia after BTS are significantly associated; however, with an R2 of only 19%, HPDT only offers a modest explanation of the inter-participant variation in the size of the secondary hyperalgesia area elicited by BTS.

U2 - 10.2147/JPR.S121189

DO - 10.2147/JPR.S121189

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 28184167

SN - 1178-7090

VL - 10

SP - 265

EP - 274

JO - Journal of Pain Research

JF - Journal of Pain Research

ER -