dc.contributor.author | Holbert, Maleea D | |
dc.contributor.author | Pedler, Ashley | |
dc.contributor.author | Camfermann, Danny | |
dc.contributor.author | Harvie, Daniel S | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2017-09-22T04:43:33Z | |
dc.date.available | 2017-09-22T04:43:33Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2017 | |
dc.identifier.issn | 1877-8860 | |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1016/j.sjpain.2017.07.017 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10072/347165 | |
dc.description.abstract | Background and aims: The nociceptive system appears to have evolved a range of protective characteristics
that are of great interest in understanding both acute and chronic pain. Spatial summation is one
important characteristic, whereby increasing area of a stimulus, or distance between multiple stimuli,
results in more intense pain—not only greater area of pain. One of the mysteries of chronic pain is why
spinal pain is so prevalent relative to pain at other sites. Since pathological tissue models have failed to
fully explain spinal pain, we theorized that body region specific differences in sensory processing—such
as a greater propensity for spatial summation—may help to explain its vulnerability. We aimed to examine
this by comparing the properties of summation at different body parts: the dorsal forearm, neck, and
back.
Methods: Spatial summation of pain was investigated using noxious intra-dermal electrical stimuli in
healthy pain-free adults (14 males, 6 females), and the perceived pain intensity was rated on a 0–100
pain scale. Area-based stimulation was investigated by doubling the stimulation area with the addition of
a second electrode placed adjacent to the first. Distance-based summation was investigated by randomly
varying the separation distance between paired noxious electrical stimuli at separations of 0, 10, 15, and
20 cm.
Results: This study demonstrated that the properties of area- and distance-based summation are uniform
across the neck, back, and forearm in healthy adults. Spatial summation of pain was also found
to be greatest at 15- and 20-cm paired separations for all body regions tested, confirming that noxious
information can be integrated over an extensive anatomical area.
Conclusion: Data from this investigation refutes the thesis that spatial summation of pain may be a
contributing factor for the reported difference in chronicity rates between spinal and peripheral sites.
It remains, however, a potentially important mechanism by which noxious inputs from multi-level
pathology might integrate and contribute to pain.
Implications: While data from this project suggestthatthere are no regional differences in the properties
of spatial summation of noxious stimuli, regional differences in other characteristics of the nociceptive
system may yet provide insight into why some spinal pain is so highly prevalent; nociceptive distancebased
summation may be highly relevant where two or more conditions co-exist in close proximity | |
dc.description.peerreviewed | Yes | |
dc.language | English | |
dc.language.iso | eng | |
dc.publisher | Elsevier | |
dc.relation.ispartofpagefrom | 126 | |
dc.relation.ispartofpageto | 131 | |
dc.relation.ispartofjournal | Scandinavian Journal of Pain | |
dc.relation.ispartofvolume | 17 | |
dc.subject.fieldofresearch | Clinical sciences | |
dc.subject.fieldofresearch | Clinical sciences not elsewhere classified | |
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode | 3202 | |
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode | 320299 | |
dc.title | Comparison of spatial summation properties at different body sites | |
dc.type | Journal article | |
dc.type.description | C1 - Articles | |
dc.type.code | C - Journal Articles | |
gro.hasfulltext | No Full Text | |
gro.griffith.author | Pedler, Ashley | |
gro.griffith.author | Harvie, Daniel S. | |
gro.griffith.author | Holbert, Maleea D. | |