ArticleBMC neurology2021
Low mechano-afferent fibers reduce thermal pain but not pain intensity in CRPS.
Article in BMC neurology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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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.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pain mechanisms in complex regional pain syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis of quantitative sensory testing outcomes.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2023Pooled it
- Modulation of pain by affective touch: effects of childhood trauma, depression, chronic pain, and spinal segment.The Journal of physiology · 2026Article
- Taking an embodied avatar's perspective modulates the temporal dynamics of vicarious pain and pleasure: a virtual reality and EEG study.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience · 2025Article
- Clinical and Molecular Barriers to Understanding the Pathogenesis, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS).International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Sensory processing in medically unexplained pain syndrome. A systematic review.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- The Hedonic Experience Associated with a Gentle Touch Is Preserved in Women with Fibromyalgia.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Review
- The analgesic power of pleasant touch in individuals with chronic pain: Recent findings and new insights.Frontiers in integrative neuroscience · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundHuman hairy (not glabrous skin) is equipped with a subgroup of C-fibers, the C-tactile (CT) fibers. Those do not mediate pain but affective aspects of touch. CT-fiber-activation reduces experimental pain if they are intact. In this pilot study we investigated pain modulating capacities of CT-afferents in CRPS.
methods10 CRPS-patients (mean age 33 years, SEM 3.3) and 11 healthy controls (mean age 43.2 years, SEM 3.9) participated. CT-targeted-touch (brush stroking, velocity: 3 cm/s) was applied on hairy and glabrous skin on the affected and contralateral limb. Patients rated pleasantness of CT-targeted-touch (anchors: 1 "not pleasant"-4 "very pleasant") twice daily on 10 days. Pain intensity (NRS: 0 "no pain" - 10 "worst pain imaginable") was assessed before, 0, 30, 60 and 120 min after each CT-stimulation. To assess sensory changes, quantitative-sensory-testing was performed at the beginning and the end of the trial period.
resultsCT-targeted-touch was felt more pleasant on the healthy compared to the affected limb on hairy (p < 0.001) and glabrous skin (p 0.002), independent of allodynia. In contrast to healthy controls patients felt no difference between stimulating glabrous and hairy skin on the affected limb. Thermal pain thresholds increased after CT-stimulation on the affected limb (cold-pain-threshold: p 0.016; heat-pain-threshold: p 0.033).
conclusionsCT-stimulation normalizes thermal pain thresholds but has no effect on the overall pain in CRPS. Therefore, pain modulating properties of CT-fibers might be too weak to alter chronic pain in CRPS. Moreover, CT-fibers appear to lose their ability to mediate pleasant aspects of touch in CRPS.
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