Reliability and validity of a simple and clinically applicable pain stimulus: sustained mechanical pressure with a spring-clamp

Abstract

Background: Generalized hyperalgesia, a widespread increased sensitivity to painful stimuli, has been demonstrated in a range of chronic pain conditions including low-back pain. The evidence suggests, that generalized hyperalgesia may be an important factor in the development of chronicity, but it is not commonly assessed in clinical practice. Whereas a range of tools and procedures for the quantitative sensory testing of pain sensitivity is available for laboratory pain research, most experimental pain stimuli are not well suited for clinical practice. In the current study, a simple and inexpensive mechanical spring-clamp was tested as a potential experimental pain stimulus. Methods: Ten seconds of mechanical pressure was applied to the thumb of 242 study participants: Healthy volunteers and low-back-pain patients (hospital and primary care). Pain intensity was measured by visual analogue scale before and after conditioned pain modulation by cold-pressor test (CPT). Correlation to pressure pain threshold (PPT) of the infraspinatus muscle and cold-pressor test pain intensity, time to pain onset and time to non-tolerance, was examined. Test/re-test reliability of clamp pain was also assessed and the stimulus-response relationship was examined with a set of 6 different clamps.

Measures of central sensitization and their measurement properties in musculoskeletal trauma: A systematic review

“…Therefore, authors were contacted for further information. Of these 29, seven authors did not respond (Biurrun Manresa et al., 2011; Margolis et al., 1986, 1988; Myburgh et al., 2011; O'Neill et al., 2014; Reigo et al., 1998; Vuilleumier et al., 2015), and for one article, the authors were not contactable (Cummings & Routan, 1987). Therefore, we were unable to confirm the population for these articles and subsequently excluded them.…”