ArticleFrontiers in psychiatry2023
Case report: Atomoxetine improves chronic pain with comorbid post-traumatic stress disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Article in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and chronic pain: a scoping review of epidemiology, clinical phenotypes, mechanisms, and treatment.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder adult comorbidity: a systematic review.Systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder in chronic pain: a study in Japanese pain centers.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Symptomatic improvement in fibromyalgia after treatment of comorbid attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a case report.Journal of medical case reports · 2026Article
- Correlation between attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and chronic pain: a survey of adults in Japan.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Innovative therapeutic strategies using ADHD medications tailored to the behavioral characteristics of patients with chronic pain.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Review
- Recognition and treatment of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder in patients with treatment-resistant burning mouth syndrome: a retrospective case study.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Case Report: Methylphenidate and venlafaxine improved abdominal nociplastic pain in an adult patient with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, and comorbid major depression.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Precuneal hyperperfusion in patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder-comorbid nociplastic pain.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2024Article
- Case Report: Guanfacine and methylphenidate improved chronic lower back pain in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease with comorbid attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2023Article
- Pain in Children With ADHD: Mechanisms, Clinical Presentation, and Implications for Assessment and Management.In vivo (Athens, Greece)Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: It is known that patients reporting chronic pain often experience trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and tend to be more difficult to treat. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a neurodevelopmental disorder, is frequently associated with chronic pain. Furthermore, patients diagnosed with ADHD are more likely to encounter trauma and develop PTSD because of their inattentive and impulsive tendencies. There are reports stating that atomoxetine (ATX), a selective noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor for ADHD, is effective in patients diagnosed with PTSD and ADHD. However, there have been no reports on cases of comorbid PTSD and ADHD with chronic pain, and ATX's potential in improving chronic pain coexisting PTSD. Furthermore, no reports have evaluated patient cerebral blood flow in conjunction with the course of treatment with ATX for chronic pain. Case report: In this study, we reported a case where ATX improved chronic pain with PTSD and improved cerebral blood flow. The patient was a 56-year-old woman exhibiting chronic pain with PTSD, resulting from 6 years of severe domestic violence from her common-law husband. She had no history of ADHD diagnosis, but through aggressive screening, comorbid ADHD was diagnosed. When treated with ATX, there were significant improvements in her pain, quality of life, anxiety, depression, catastrophic thoughts, and cerebral blood flow. As a result, she could resume work after 11 years. Conclusion: The study showed that chronic pain with PTSD may be comorbid with ADHD. Moreover, we found that ATX can improve chronic pain with PTSD and cerebral blood flow. Aggressive screening of ADHD is important because once the diagnosis of comorbidity is confirmed, an ideal ADHD treatment can be selected. Therefore, based on the results of this study, ATX may be a candidate for treatment for cases of chronic pain with PTSD and ADHD.
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