Digital mapping of shoulder pain in patients with shoulder disorders: a reliability study.

Introduction: Digital body mapping can be used to document and quantify the area and location (distribution) of pain and discomfort and support assessment, monitoring, and treatment in clinical populations. This study determines the test-retest reliability of drawings detailing pain and pins and needles using digital body charts and their relationship to pain intensity and patient-reported shoulder function.

Methods: Sixty-two participants with shoulder disorder completed pain and pins and needles drawings with test-retest interval of 30 minutes.

Pain-free default mode network connectivity contributes to tonic experimental pain intensity beyond the role of negative mood and other pain-related factors.

Background: Alterations in the default mode network (DMN) connectivity across pain stages suggest a possible DMN involvement in the transition to persistent pain.

Aim: This study examined whether pain-free DMN connectivity at lower alpha oscillations (8-10 Hz) accounts for a unique variation in experimental peak pain intensity beyond the contribution of factors known to influence pain intensity.

Methods: Pain-free DMN connectivity was measured with electroencephalography prior to 1 h of capsaicin-evoked pain using a topical capsaicin patch on the right forearm.

Facilitated Central Pain Mechanisms Across the Menstrual Cycle in Dysmenorrhea and Enlarged Pain Distribution in Women With Longer Pain History.

Dysmenorrhea (DYS), or recurrent menstrual pain, is a highly prevalent pain condition among otherwise healthy women. However, the progression of DYS over time and the influence of the menstrual cycle phases need to be better understood. While the location and distribution of pain have been used to assess pain mechanisms in other conditions, they are unexplored in DYS.

Skin temperature normalizes faster than pressure pain thresholds, pain intensity, and pain distribution during recovery from eccentric exercise.

Introduction: Acute musculoskeletal injuries have diverse symptomatology and a multidimensional recovery process, including changes in swelling, redness, hyperalgesia, and expanded pain distribution. In a small proportion of cases, the tissue heals, although these symptoms persist, reflecting altered peripheral and central pain mechanisms. However, the otherwise healthy multidimensional recovery process following damage and pain is less than clear.

Decreased Default Mode Network Connectivity Following 24 Hours of Capsaicin-induced Pain Persists During Immediate Pain Relief and Facilitation.

Prolonged experimental pain models can help assess cortical mechanisms underlying the transition from acute to chronic pain such as resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC), especially in early stages. This crossover study determined the effects of 24-hour-capsaicin-induced pain on the default mode network rsFC, a major network in the dynamic pain connectome. Electroencephalographic rsFC measured by Granger causality was acquired from 24 healthy volunteers (12 women) at baseline, 1hour, and 24hours following the application of a control or capsaicin patch on the right forearm.

Visualizing and quantifying spatial and qualitative pain sensations.

Similar to the purpose of an infographic, visualizing spatial and qualitative sensations on a body chart is a fast and digestible method for communicating complex information and experiences. Further, digitizing these body charts into an interactive medium creates unprecedented opportunities for collecting extensive data. Moreover, applying simple rule-based algorithms or more advanced machine learning approaches to these charts catapults the quantification and spatiotemporal relations of pain and qualitative pain sensations into a new field ripe for pioneering discoveries.

Digital body mapping of pain quality and distribution in athletes with longstanding groin pain.

Groin pain is common in athletes, but remains a challenge to diagnose. Self-reported pain quality distribution may facilitate differential diagnoses. We included 167 athletes with groin pain (≥ 4 weeks).

Profiling and Association over Time between Disability and Pain Features in Patients with Chronic Nonspecific Neck Pain: A Longitudinal Study.

Objectives: To longitudinally investigate the relationships between neck/arm disability and pain profile measures in individuals with chronic nonspecific neck pain (NSNP) at baseline, one month, and six months after a standardized physiotherapy intervention. A secondary aim was to compare pain sensitivity of individuals with chronic NSNP at baseline to healthy controls.

Methods: A total of sixty-eight individuals with chronic NSNP and healthy controls were recruited.

Comparing what the clinician draws on a digital pain map to that of persons who have greater trochanteric pain syndrome.

Objectives: To assess the agreements and differences in pain drawings (pain area, shape and location) between individuals who have greater trochanteric pain syndrome (GTPS) and their clinician.

Methods: In this study, 23 patients with GTPS (21 female, pain duration range 8-24 months) underwent clinical evaluation by a registered physiotherapist. Digital 2d full body pain drawings were independently performed by the clinician during the subjective examination and by the patient following the physical examination.

Angular gyrus connectivity at alpha and beta oscillations is reduced during tonic pain - Differential effect of eye state.

The angular gyrus (AG) is a common hub in the pain networks. The role of the AG during pain perception, however, is still unclear. This crossover study examined the effect of tonic pain on resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) of the AG under eyes closed (EC) and eyes open (EO).

Spatiotemporal patterns of pain distribution and recall accuracy: a dose-response study.

Objectives: Clinical decisions rely on a patient's ability to recall and report their pain experience. Monitoring pain in real-time (momentary pain) may reduce recall errors and optimize the clinical decision-making process. Tracking momentary pain can provide insights into detailed changes in pain intensity and distribution (area and location) over time.

Standardized palpation of the temporalis muscle evoke referred pain and sensations in individuals without TMD.

Objectives: This study aimed to determine if standardized palpations of the temporalis muscle evoke referred pain and/or sensations in individuals without TMD.

Materials And Methods: This was a randomized, single-blinded study. The mechanical sensitivity of the right temporalis muscle was assessed in 32 participants without TMD with nine different stimulations to 15 test sites using palpometers (different stimulus intensities (0.

Healthy Pain-Free Individuals with a History of Distal Radius Fracture Demonstrate an Expanded Distribution of Experimental Referred Pain Toward the Wrist.

Objective: Nociception caused by injuries may sensitize central mechanisms causing expanded pain areas. After recovery, the status of such pain distribution and sensitivity mechanisms is unknown. The present study investigated whether individuals who have fully recovered from a distal radius fracture demonstrate increased pain sensitivity and expanded distribution of pressure-induced pain.

The Area of Pressure-Induced Referred Pain Is Dependent on the Intensity of the Suprathreshold Stimulus: An Explorative Study.

Objective: To investigate the pain referral area (number of pixels) and extent (vector length) as elicited from increasing intensities of pressure-induced pain at the shoulder.

Design: Cross-sectional design.

Setting: Clinical laboratory setting.

Digital Pain Mapping and Tracking in Patients With Chronic Pain: Longitudinal Study.

Background: Digital pain mapping allows for remote and ecological momentary assessment in patients over multiple time points spanning days to months. Frequent ecological assessments may reveal tendencies and fluctuations more clearly and provide insights into the trajectory of a patient's pain.

Objective: The primary aim of this study is to remotely map and track the intensity and distribution of pain and discomfort (eg, burning, aching, and tingling) in patients with nonmalignant spinal referred pain over 12 weeks using a web-based app for digital pain mapping.

Modifiable motion graphics for capturing sensations.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between an embodied sensory experience and the ability to translate the perception of this experience visually using modifiable motion graphics.

Methods: A custom-designed software was developed to enable users to modify a motion graphic in real-time. The motion graphics were designed to depict realistic visualizations of pain quality descriptors, such as tingling and burning.

Local hyperalgesia, normal endogenous modulation with pain report beyond its origin: a pilot study prompting further exploration into plantar fasciopathy.

Background and aims Persistent tendinopathies were previously considered solely as peripheral conditions affecting the local tendinous tissue until quantitative sensory testing identified involvement of altered pain processing. In similar fashion, pain in patients with persistent plantar fasciopathy may also involve more than local tissue. The aim of this pilot study was to investigate potential differences in conditioned pain modulation and pressure and thermal pain thresholds, between individuals with PF and healthy pain-free controls, as a precursor to a larger-scale study.

Corticomotor excitability reduction induced by experimental pain remains unaffected by performing a working memory task as compared to staying at rest.

Experimental pain inhibits primary motor cortex (M1) excitability. Attenuating pain-related inhibition of M1 excitability may be useful during rehabilitation in individuals with pain. One strategy to attenuate M1 excitability is to influence prefrontal and premotor cortex activity.

Pain-Induced Reduction in Corticomotor Excitability Is Counteracted by Combined Action-Observation and Motor Imagery.

Musculoskeletal pain reduces corticomotor excitability (CE) and methods modulating such CE reduction remain elusive. This study aimed to modulate pain-induced CE reduction by performing action observation and motor imagery (AOMI) during experimental muscle pain. Twelve healthy participants participated in 3 cross-over and randomized sessions separated by 1 week.

Enlarged Areas of Pain and Pressure Hypersensitivityby Spatially Distributed Intramuscular Injections ofLow-Dose Nerve Growth Factor.

Intramuscular injection of nerve growth factor (NGF) causes muscle hyperalgesia without immediate pain. This double-blinded, randomized study assessed pain and muscle hypersensitivity after a single-site bolus NGF injection (5 µg) compared with 5 spatially distributed, low-dose NGF injections (1 µg, 4 cm distance) into the tibialis anterior (TA) muscles in 20 healthy subjects. Injection pain was rated on a visual analog scale.

Distinct patterns of variation in the distribution of knee pain.

The patient's expression of pain using digital-body maps expands analytic opportunities for exploring the spatial variation of bodily pain. A common knee pain condition in adolescents and adults is patellofemoral pain (PFP) and recently PFP was shown to be characterized by a heterogeneous distribution of pain. Whether there are important patterns in these distributions remains unclear.

Implanter's Integrated Information (I3) System: An Aid for Spinal Cord Stimulation Procedures.

Objectives: In spinal cord stimulation (SCS), the electrical stimulation of the spinal cord with an implanted lead evokes a tingling peripheral sensation known as paresthesias. Newer stimulation paradigms allow paresthesia-free treatment, but during the implantation of the lead, paresthesias must cover the painful area to achieve optimal treatment effect. The localization of the evoked paresthesias can be difficult to accurately describe for the patient, and furthermore depends on a complex and only partially predictable set of parameters that includes the anatomical localization and the programming of the electrical field.

Differential Corticomotor Excitability Responses to Hypertonic Saline-Induced Muscle Pain in Forearm and Hand Muscles.

Experimental muscle pain inhibits corticomotor excitability (CE) of upper limb muscles. It is unknown if this inhibition affects overlapping muscle representations within the primary motor cortex to the same degree. This study explored CE changes of the first dorsal interosseus (FDI) and extensor carpi radialis (ECR) muscles in response to muscle pain.

Experimental Referred Pain Extends Toward Previously Injured Location: An Explorative Study.

Unlabelled: Facilitated pain mechanisms have been demonstrated in musculoskeletal pain, but it is unclear whether a recent painful injury leaves the pain system sensitized. Pain characteristics were assessed in individuals who recently recovered from ankle pain (recovered pain group; n = 25) and sex-matched control subjects (n = 25) in response to tonic pressure pain and saline-induced pain applied at the shin muscle. Pain intensity and pain referral patterns were recorded bilaterally after the painful muscle stimulus.