|
Central
hypersensitivity in chronic pain after whiplash injury.
Curatolo M, Petersen-Felix S, Arendt-Nielsen L, Giani C, Zbinden
AM, Radanov BP.
Department
of Anesthesiology, University Hospital of Bern, Inselspital, Switzerland.
michele.curatolo@insel.ch
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
OBJECTIVE:
The mechanisms underlying chronic pain after whiplash injury
are usually unclear. Injuries may cause sensitization of spinal
cord neurons in animals (central hypersensitivity), which results
in increased responsiveness to peripheral stimuli. In humans, the
responsiveness of the central nervous system to peripheral stimulation
may be explored by applying sensory tests to healthy tissues. The
hypotheses of this study were: (1) chronic whiplash pain is associated
with central hypersensitivity; (2) central hypersensitivity is maintained
by nociception arising from the painful or tender muscles in the
neck.
Click
here to read more...
|
