The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in local and segmental hypersensitivity and endogenous pain inhibition in people with chronic nonspecific neck pain.
Quantitative sensory testing is widely used in human research to investigate the state of the peripheral and central nervous system contributions in pain processing. It is a valuable tool to help identify central sensitization and may be important in the treatment of chronic neck pain. This study is a cross-sectional study. Two groups including chronic neck pain group and healthy volunteers group will be arranged in this study. The healthy subjects will be matched for sex and age in relation to the neck pain group. The pressure pain threshold (PPT) will be measured at the neck muscle in both groups. The cold pressor test will be used in both groups to activate conditioned pain modulation.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
30
Patients,aged 21-80 years, must have experienced neck pain for at least 3 months and have reported a minimal pain level of 30 (pain threshold) on the 0-100 pain numerical rating scale (NRS) in the last 7 days.
Subjects,aged 21-80 years, must not have presented episodes of chronic neck pain for more than 7 days in the last 12 months.
Peking University People's Hospital
Beijing, China
Change of pressure pain threshold (PPT)
A cold pressor test (CPT) was used to induce pain and trigger the conditioned pain modulation (CPM) response. The conditioned stimulus was immersion of the leg in a bucket of ice water on the side ipsilateral to the most painful neck region. The neck PPT was recorded beginning 30 s after immersion of the leg with two PPT measures for each point. The PPT will be also measured again immediately after CPT.
Time frame: The PPT will be measured before CPT, 30 seconds after the CPT begin, and immediately after CPT.
Numerical rating scale for pain (NRS)
The NRS evaluates levels of pain intensity using an 100-point scale (range 0-100), with 0 being classified as "no sensation", 30 "pain threshold", 100 "pain as bad as could be".
Time frame: The patients used this scale to rate the pain intensity of the neck pain before the experiment.
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