Differences in Pain Processing Between Men and Women

Balgrist University Hospital66 enrolled

Overview

Many chronic pain conditions show clear differences between between men and women, such as reported pain intensities or treatment effects, with chronic pain conditions being generally more frequent in women. Yet, the underlying mechanisms causing these differences are poorly understood. Central sensitization (CS) is considered one important mechanism in pain patients which differs between female and male patients. The central hypothesis is that already in the healthy population CS processes are more pronounced in women than in men.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

Conditions

Central Sensitisation

Interventions

Cutaneous thermal stimuliOTHER

Application of thermal stimuli of different intensities to the skin

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 40 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * good general health * able to give informed consent Exclusion Criteria: * pain complaints for more than two consecutive days over the past three months * any major medical or psychiatric condition (e.g. heart disease, major depressive disorder) * any chronic pain condition * inability to follow study instructions * consumption of stimulants, drugs, or analgesics within the past 24 hours * scar tissue or generally reduced sensitivity in the designated testing site areas

Locations (1)

Balgrist Campus

Zurich, Switzerland

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Change in spatial extent of mechanical hypersensitivity after intervention w.r.t. baseline

Mapping of hypersensitivity in cm2 of sensitized skin area using two quantitative sensory testing tools (256mN von Frey filament and 200-400mN brush) before and after intervention

Time frame: 10-20 minutes before intervention (baseline) and 20-30 minutes after intervention

Changes to the nociceptive withdrawal reflex (NWR) after intervention w.r.t. baseline

Repetitive suprathreshold elicitation of the NWR to monitor its characteristics (such as magnitude and number of responses) before and after intervention

Time frame: 5-10 minutes before intervention (baseline) and 30-35 minutes after intervention

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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