The journal of pain : official journal of the American Pain Society
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Ten Chronic Overlapping Pain Conditions (COPCs) are currently recognized by the National Institutes of Health Pain Consortium (eg, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic migraine headache, and chronic low back pain). These conditions affect millions of Americans; however, assessing these conditions, their co-occurrence, and their relationship to treatment has proven challenging due to time constraints and a lack of standardized measures. We present a Chronic Overlapping Pain Condition-Screener (COPC-S) that is logic-driven, efficient, and freely available in electronic format to nonprofit entities. ⋯ PERSPECTIVE: Assessing COPCs remains a challenge for researchers and clinicians. The COPC-S is an efficient and logic-driven electronic tool that allows for the rapid screening assessment of 10 COPCs. The instrument may have utility in research and clinical settings.
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The platinum chemotherapeutic oxaliplatin produces dose-limiting pain, dysesthesia, and cold hypersensitivity in most patients immediately after infusion. An improved understanding of the mechanisms underlying these symptoms is urgently required to facilitate the development of symptomatic or preventative therapies. In this study, we have used skin-saphenous nerve recordings in vitro and behavioral experiments in mice to characterize the direct effects of oxaliplatin on different types of sensory afferent fibers. ⋯ PERSPECTIVE: The chemotherapeutic drug oxaliplatin rapidly gives rise to dose-limiting cold pain and dysesthesia. Here, we have used behavioral and electrophysiological studies of mice to characterize the responsible neurons. We show that oxaliplatin directly confers aberrant cold responsiveness to subsets of A-fibers while silencing other fibers of the same type.
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Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder/Genito-Pelvic Dysesthesia (PGAD/GPD), which affects up to 4.3% of individuals, is a distressing and poorly understood condition characterized by persistent, unwanted, and often painful sensations of genito-pelvic arousal (eg, throbbing) in the absence of sexual desire. PGAD/GPD is associated with significant negative impacts on psychosocial well-being and daily functioning. Recent research has indicated that PGAD/GPD shares many similarities with other forms of chronic genito-pelvic pain. ⋯ Interventions targeting fear-avoidance factors may help to reduce PGAD/GPD symptom intensity, distress, and increase psychological well-being and daily functioning. PERSPECTIVE: This article provides support for the applicability of the fear-avoidance model of chronic pain to Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder/Genito-Pelvic Dysesthesia (PGAD/GPD). These results suggest that interventions targeting fear-avoidance cognitions and behaviors (catastrophizing, fear, avoidance, hypervigilance) may help to reduce PGAD/GPD symptom intensity and improve psychological well-being and daily functioning.
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Although pain is a commonly experienced and observed affective state, it is frequently misinterpreted, which leads to inadequate caregiving. Studies show the ability at estimating pain in others (estimation bias) and detecting its subtle variations (sensitivity) could emerge from independent mechanisms. While estimation bias is modulated by variables such as empathy level, pain catastrophizing tendency, and overexposure to pain, sensitivity remains unimpacted. ⋯ Together, these results provide evidence for a perceptual contribution in pain inferencing that is independent of other psychosocial variables and its link to observers' expectations. PERSPECTIVE: This article reinforces the contribution of perceptual mechanisms in pain assessment. Moreover, strategies aimed to improve the reliability of individuals' expectations regarding the appearance of facial expressions of pain could potentially be developed, and contribute to decrease inaccuracies found in pain assessment and the confusion between pain and other affective states.
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This survey investigated the prevalence of de novo widespread musculoskeletal post-COVID pain and risk factors for its development in nonhospitalized COVID-19 survivors. A nationwide exploratory cross-sectional study was conducted, including a cohort of 593,741 Danish residents who had suffered from a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection from March 2020 to December 2021. A questionnaire was distributed to the Danish population via the digital mail system (e-Boks). ⋯ PERSPECTIVE: This article presents de novo widespread post-COVID pain prevalence in a cohort of 130,443 citizens infected with COVID-19. The study identifies potential risk factors associated with the development of these new pain symptoms. The results may increase focus on this patient group and potentially help identify predictors for postinfection pain development.