Preoperative susceptibility to developing secondary hyperalgesia is associated with post-thoracotomy pain at 2 months.

Background: Identifying the subset of patients at risk for developing persistent pain after surgery is clinically important as they could benefit from targeted prevention measures. In this prospective study, we investigated if the preoperative assessment of the individual susceptibility to developing experimentally induced secondary hyperalgesia is associated with post-thoracotomy pain at 2 months.

Methods: Forty-one patients scheduled to undergo a posterolateral thoracotomy were recruited before surgery and followed prospectively for 2 months.

Assessing signs of central sensitization: A critical review of physiological measures in experimentally induced secondary hyperalgesia.

Background And Objectives: Central sensitization (CS) is believed to play a role in many chronic pain conditions. Direct non-invasive recording from single nociceptive neurons is not feasible in humans, complicating CS establishment. This review discusses how secondary hyperalgesia (SHA), considered a manifestation of CS, affects physiological measures in healthy individuals and if these measures could indicate CS.

Studying the Effect of Expectations on High-Frequency Electrical Stimulation-Induced Pain and Pinprick Hypersensitivity.

Negative expectations can increase pain, but can they promote the development of central sensitization? This study used an inert treatment and verbal suggestions to induce expectations of increased high-frequency electrical stimulation (HFS)-induced pain and assessed their effects on pain ratings during HFS and HFS-induced pinprick hypersensitivity. Fifty healthy volunteers were randomly allocated to either a control group (N = 25) or a nocebo group (N = 25). Participants in both groups received a patch containing water on the right forearm.

Is chronic pain caused by central sensitization? A review and critical point of view.

Chronic pain causes disability and loss of health worldwide. Yet, a mechanistic explanation for it is still missing. Frequently, neural phenomena, and among them, Central Sensitization (CS), is presented as causing chronic pain.