Regional anesthesia and pain medicine
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Mar 2016
Multicenter Study Clinical TrialA Longitudinal Study to Evaluate Pregnancy-Induced Endogenous Analgesia and Pain Modulation.
The phenomenon of pregnancy-induced analgesia has been demonstrated in animal models but less consistently in human studies. This study aimed to assess endogenous pain modulation, evaluating inhibitory and excitatory pain pathways, over the course of pregnancy and postpartum. ⋯ This is the first study to assess CPM and mTS changes in pregnancy and postpartum. Endogenous pain modulation evaluating both inhibitory and excitatory pain pathways did not significantly change during pregnancy or postpartum. Future studies are required to determine the magnitude and clinical significance of pregnancy-induced analgesia.