Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30098104›Full record

ArticleEuropean journal of pain (London, England)2019

Behavioural and neural responses to aversive visceral stimuli in women with primary dysmenorrhoea.

Bettina Böttcher, Elke R Gizewski, Christian Siedentopf, Ruth Steiger, Michael Verius, David Riedl, Anja Ischebeck, Julia Schmid, Ludwig Wildt, Sigrid Elsenbruch

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in European journal of pain (London, England), 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.6field-weighted citation impact, top 16% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Physical agents' level in women with primary dysmenorrhea: A cross-sectional observational study.International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2026
    Observational
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Bettina BöttcherDepartment of Gynecological Endocrinology and Reproductive Medicine, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.ORCID 0000-0002-7745-9130
Elke R GizewskiDepartment of Neuroradiology, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
Christian SiedentopfDepartment of Neuroradiology, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
Ruth SteigerDepartment of Neuroradiology, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
Michael VeriusDepartment of Radiology, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
David RiedlUniversity Clinic of Medical Psychology, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
Anja IschebeckInstitute of Psychology, Karl-Franzens-University Graz, Graz, Austria.
Julia SchmidInstitute of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Immunobiology, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
Ludwig WildtDepartment of Gynecological Endocrinology and Reproductive Medicine, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
Sigrid ElsenbruchInstitute of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Immunobiology, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
Innsbruck Medical University · ATUniversity of Duisburg-Essen · DEUniversity of Graz · AT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundChronic pelvic pain, in particular dysmenorrhoea, is a significant yet unresolved healthcare problem in gynaecology. As interoceptive sensitivity and underlying neural mechanisms remain incompletely understood, this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study assessed behavioural and neural responses to visceral stimuli in primary dysmenorrhoea (PMD).

methodsWomen with PMD (N = 19) without psychological comorbidity and healthy women (N = 20) were compared with respect to visceral sensory and pain thresholds, and to neural responses to individually calibrated mildly painful and painful rectal distensions implemented during scanning. Trial-by-trial ratings of perceived intensity were accomplished with visual analogue scales (VAS).

resultsAlthough women with dysmenorrhoea reported significantly higher chronic pain intensity and pain interference with daily life activities (p < 0.01, assessed with the West Haven-Yale Multidimensional Pain Inventory), there were no differences between groups in visceral sensitivity and mean trial-by-trial VAS ratings were virtually identical. Analysis of neural responses revealed activation in brain regions previously shown to be involved in the processing of visceral stimuli with differences between painful and mildly painful stimulation, but no group differences were found even when using a liberal statistical threshold.

conclusionsDysmenorrhoea patients show unaltered perceptual and neural responses to experimental interoceptive stimuli. Despite limited sample size, these negative results argue against a generalized sensitization towards interoceptive stimuli in patients without psychological comorbidities. Future studies should clarify the role of psychosocial factors in central sensitization using more pain region-specific models in larger and clinically more heterogeneous samples. SIGNIFICANCE: Despite higher chronic pain and pain interference with daily life activities, women with primary dysmenorrhoea do not differ from healthy women with respect to visceral sensitivity or neural processing of aversive interoceptive stimuli induced by rectal distensions. Generalized sensitization may be present only in subgroups with pronounced psychosocial or psychiatric disturbances.

Indexed as

AdultBrainBrain MappingCase-Control StudiesCentral Nervous System SensitizationDysmenorrheaFemaleHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingPain MeasurementPain PerceptionPain ThresholdVisceral PainYoung Adult

Identifiers

PMID30098104
PMCPMC6585730
OpenAlexW2885238567

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.