Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41045353›Full record

ArticleLa Radiologia medica2026

Peripheral inflammation and central sensitization associated with postoperative pain following arthroscopy surgery in rotator cuff injury.

Xu Chu, Rui Zhao, Tao Wang, XuXu Chen, Hui Kang

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Article in La Radiologia medica, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

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3citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

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3 · Its place in the literature

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3 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Xu Chu *Department of Shoulder and Elbow of Sports Medicine, Honghui Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, No. 76 Nanguo Road, Xi'an, 710054, China.
Rui Zhao *Department of Orthopedics, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China.
Tao WangDepartment of Shoulder and Elbow of Sports Medicine, Honghui Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, No. 76 Nanguo Road, Xi'an, 710054, China.
XuXu ChenDepartment of Shoulder and Elbow of Sports Medicine, Honghui Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, No. 76 Nanguo Road, Xi'an, 710054, China. firrain@126.com.
Hui KangDepartment of Shoulder and Elbow of Sports Medicine, Honghui Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, No. 76 Nanguo Road, Xi'an, 710054, China. huikanghonghui@163.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0008-3462-9858

Funding

Key Research and Development Projects of Shaanxi Province S2021-YF-YBSF-0698Key Research and Development Projects of Shaanxi Province S2022-YF-YBSF-1217
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeRotator cuff injury (RCI) is a prevalent cause of shoulder disability, with emerging evidence implicating localized inflammatory cascades as key mediators of nociceptive signaling. Recent studies suggest that preoperative central sensitization induced by exposure to inflammation serves as a predictor of persistent pain following surgery at one-year follow-up. However, the underlying mechanism between peripheral inflammation, central pain processing, and postsurgical pain remains poorly characterized in RCI. Therefore, we aim to characterize pain-elicited brain responses and identify brain mediators of pain hypersensitivity in RCI patients. MATERIALS AND

methodsUtilizing a case-control design, twenty-eight patients with right/bilateral RCI and twenty healthy controls underwent functional MRI during pressure noxious stimuli, with pain intensity quantified via the visual analog scale. Comprehensive analyses of preoperative resting-state fMRI, serum cytokine profiles, and postoperative neuroimaging were conducted in RCI patients.

resultsWe found significantly higher level of pain sensitivity and IL-6 concentrations in RCI patients compared to controls. RCI patients exhibited higher activation within the left primary somatosensory cortex (S1), which mediated the relationship between IL-6 levels and pain sensitivity. Notably, preoperative S1 amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) exhibited a strong positive correlation with IL-6 concentrations (r = 0.62) and served as a robust predictor of postoperative pain reduction. These findings establish left S1 hyperactivation as a neuroplastic hub integrating peripheral inflammatory signaling (IL-6 elevation) and central pain sensitization in RCI.

conclusionThe observed preoperative associations between S1 function, cytokine profiles, and postoperative pain resolution provide translational evidence for S1 as a predictive biomarker of pain chronification risk.

Indexed as

ArthroscopyCentral Nervous System SensitizationInflammationMagnetic Resonance ImagingPostoperative PainRotator Cuff InjuriesAdultCase-Control StudiesFemaleHumansInterleukin-6MaleMiddle AgedPain MeasurementInterleukin-6Functional MRIGeneral liner modelInflammationPain sensitizationRotator cuff injury

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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.