Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36000307›Full record

ArticleEuropean journal of pain (London, England)2022

Anti- and Pro-Nociceptive mechanisms in neuropathic pain after human spinal cord injury.

Robin Lütolf, Iara De Schoenmacker, Jan Rosner, Laura Sirucek, Petra Schweinhardt, Armin Curt, Michèle Hubli

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in European journal of pain (London, England), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed
1.4field-weighted citation impact, top 18% 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

11 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Central neuropathic pain.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2023
    Review
  9. Article
  10. Review
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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

7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Robin LütolfSpinal Cord Injury Center, Balgrist University Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-4635-693X
Iara De SchoenmackerSpinal Cord Injury Center, Balgrist University Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Jan RosnerSpinal Cord Injury Center, Balgrist University Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Laura SirucekIntegrative Spinal Research, Department of Chiropractic Medicine, Balgrist University Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0001-5599-3546
Petra SchweinhardtIntegrative Spinal Research, Department of Chiropractic Medicine, Balgrist University Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0003-4837-6595
Armin CurtSpinal Cord Injury Center, Balgrist University Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Michèle HubliSpinal Cord Injury Center, Balgrist University Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0001-6054-3283
University of Zurich · CHUniversity of Bern · CH

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDeficient endogenous pain modulation and increased nociceptive excitability are key features of central sensitization and can be assessed in humans by conditioned pain modulation (CPM, anti-nociceptive) and temporal summation of pain (TSP, pro-nociceptive), respectively. This study aimed to investigate these measures as proxies for central sensitization in subjects with chronic neuropathic pain (NP) after spinal cord injury (SCI).

methodsIn paraplegic subjects with NP (SCI-NP; n = 17) and healthy controls (HC; n = 17), parallel and sequential sham-controlled CPM paradigms were performed using pressure pain threshold at the hand, that is, above lesion level, as test stimulus. The conditioning stimulus was a noxious cold (verum) or lukewarm water bath (sham) applied contralaterally. Regarding pro-nociceptive mechanisms, a TSP protocol with individually-adjusted pressure pain stimuli at the thenar eminence was used. CPM and TSP magnitudes were related to intensity and spatial extent of spontaneous NP.

resultsNeither the parallel nor sequential sham-controlled CPM paradigm showed any significant inhibition of above-level pressure pain thresholds for SCI-NP or HC. Accordingly, no group difference in CPM capacity was found, however, subjects with more intense spontaneous NP showed lower inhibitory CPM capacity. TSP was observed for both groups but was not enhanced in SCI-NP.

conclusionsOur results do not support altered above-level anti- or pro-nociceptive mechanisms in SCI-NP compared with HC; however, they also highlight the relevance of spontaneous NP intensity with regards to the capacity of endogenous pain modulation in SCI subjects. SIGNIFICANCE: Central sensitization encompasses deficient endogenous pain modulation and increased nociceptive excitability. These two mechanisms can be assessed in humans by conditioned pain modulation and temporal summation of pain, respectively. Our data demonstrates a lack of descending pain inhibition only in subjects with severe neuropathic pain which may hint towards central sensitization at spinal and/or supra-spinal levels. Disentangling the mechanisms of endogenous pain modulation and neuronal hyperexcitability might improve mechanism-based treatment of neuropathic pain in subjects with spinal cord injury.

Indexed as

NeuralgiaSpinal Cord InjuriesHumansPain MeasurementPain Threshold

Identifiers

PMID36000307
PMCPMC9826499
OpenAlexW4293214708

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

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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.