A diagnostic re-evaluation of electric skin resistance, skin temperature and deeper tenderness in patients with abdominal pain.

Diagnostic re-evaluation of measurement of electric skin resistance (ESR), skin temperature (ST) and deeper tenderness (DT) was performed in patients with abdominal pain due to pancreatitis, cholecystopathy and duodenal ulcer. These determinations were conducted when the pain was complained of and after the pain ceased by paravertebral anesthesia. ESR was decreased on the opposite tender points of the abdominal walls as compared with those values of the healthy abdominal walls. On the contrary, ESR was increased on the suffered body areas in patients with active myelitis. ESR was decreased on the abdominal walls where visceral pain was induced by inflation of a balloon attached to the apex of a Miller-Abbott double lumen tube. DT tended to show decrease, while ST a slight increase, when the pain was evoked. However, in these pain induced experiments, ST changes were not so remarkable as those of ESR. A viscero-cutaneous reflex machanism and the predominance of sympathetic nerve control might be possible causes to produce these changes. Several important factors influencing the determination of the ESR were also discussed.