Pain
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Parental history of chronic pain may be associated with impairments in endogenous opioid analgesic systems.
A family history of chronic pain has previously been linked to increased incidence of spontaneous acute pain and risk for chronic pain. Mechanisms underlying these associations are unknown, although similar effects on both acute and chronic pain suggest that central endogenous analgesic system differences may be relevant. This study tested whether a positive parental chronic pain history (PH+) was associated with impaired endogenous opioid analgesic responses to acute pain. ⋯ A significant multivariate PHxSubject Type interaction (p<.05) indicated that opioid analgesic impairments were most prominent in PH+ LBP subjects. Similar analyses for finger pressure pain blockade effects were nonsignificant (p>.10). The possible heritability of endogenous opioid analgesic dysfunction observed in individuals with a positive parental chronic pain history remains to be investigated.