• Francis O'Connell, Naiya Osiyemi, Zeina Saliba, Nakita Mortimer, and Ali Pourmand.
• Department of Emergency Medicine, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, DC, United States. Electronic address: foconnell@mfa.gwu.edu.
• Am J Emerg Med. 2021 Nov 1; 49: 440.e1-440.e3.

AbstractAltered pain perception among patients with schizophrenia is often underrecognized in the medical community. The cause is not known, and medical professionals are not sure whether these patients experience less pain or are simply unable to express it. There are documented cases of patients with schizophrenia presenting to hospital settings with serious injuries without obvious (expected) pain. Research into the underlying cause(s) is underway; meanwhile, ensuring awareness of this issue among medical providers is of upmost importance. We report a case of a patient with schizophrenia who presented voluntarily to the emergency department (ED) with a hand fracture that went unrecognized in the ED and further discuss the implications of reduced pain perception. Additionally, we summarize existing hypotheses regarding the source of this reduced pain perception in this population.Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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