Widespread Pressure Pain Hypersensitivity in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis With and Without Pain as Sign of Central Sensitization

Objective:To determine the presence of widespread pressure hyperalgesia in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with and without pain and its association with pain and fatigue. Methods:A total of 108 individuals with definite MS, 49 men and 59 women (mean age, 44±8 y) and 108 age-matched and sex-matched pain-free controls (mean age, 44±9 y) were included. Fifty patients (n=58, 54%) reported pain and 50 (46%) did not. Pressure pain threshold (PPT) was bilaterally assessed over supraorbital, infraorbital, mental, median, radial and ulnar nerve trunks, C5-C6 joint, second metacarpal, and tibialis anterior muscle by an assessor blinded to the patient’s condition. The intensity of pain was assessed with a numerical pain rate scale (0 to 10), fatigue was determined with the Fatigue Impact Scale, and depression was evaluated with the Beck Depression Inventory. Results:The analyses of covariance revealed that PPT were significantly decreased bilaterally over the supraorbital, infraorbital, mental, median, ulnar and radial nerve trunks, C5-C6 joint, second metacarpal, and tibialis anterior muscles in patients with MS compared with pain-free controls (all, P0.944). Patients with pain exhibited higher fatigue and depression than those patients without pain (P
Source: The Clinical Journal of Pain - Category: Anesthesiology Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research