Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Diagnostic blocks: a truth serum for malingering.

Nikolai Bogduk1

  • 1Department of Clinical Research, University of Newcastle, Royal Newcastle Hospital, Newcastle, Australia. mgillam@mail.newcastle.edu.au

The Clinical Journal of Pain
|October 27, 2004
PubMed
Summary

Diagnostic blocks can help determine if chronic pain complaints are genuine. A positive response refutes malingering, providing objective evidence to resolve disputes regarding pain authenticity.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Subfailure Capsule Strain as the Cause of Cervical Zygapophysial Joint Pain after Whiplash: a Scoping Review.

Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.)·2026
Same author

On the validity and clinical utility of comparative local anesthetic blocks for the diagnosis of spine pain.

Interventional pain medicine·2024
Same author

Physical examination tests technical accuracy of sacral lateral branch RFN.

Interventional pain medicine·2024
Same author

Reply to the:Letter to the Editor written by Hays and Peipert.

Interventional pain medicine·2024
Same author

On understanding the validity of diagnostic tests.

Interventional pain medicine·2024
Same author

Criteria for determining if a treatment for pain works.

Interventional pain medicine·2024

Area of Science:

  • Pain Medicine
  • Diagnostic Procedures

Background:

  • Malingering is a behavior, not a diagnosis, lacking established diagnostic criteria.
  • Existing guidelines for suspecting malingering do not differentiate from genuine chronic pain.
  • Establishing a genuine source of pain can refute malingering claims.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the utility of controlled diagnostic blocks in assessing the authenticity of chronic pain complaints.
  • To investigate how diagnostic blocks can differentiate genuine pain from malingering.
  • To establish objective methods for resolving disputes about pain genuineness.

Main Methods:

  • Utilizing controlled diagnostic blocks to identify genuine sources of pain in patients with unapparent causes.
  • Analyzing patient responses to diagnostic blocks to confirm or refute pain authenticity.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Applying diagnostic blocks in cases of spinal pain and complex regional pain syndromes.

    • Main Results:

    • Positive responses to diagnostic blocks demonstrate genuine pain and refute malingering.
    • Diagnostic blocks provide objective data to resolve disputes based on opinion.
    • Negative responses do not rule out genuine pain if the source is not block-amenable.

    Conclusions:

    • Controlled diagnostic blocks offer an objective method to validate genuine pain complaints.
    • This technique is particularly valuable for undiagnosed spinal pain and complex regional pain syndromes.
    • Diagnostic blocks can definitively refute malingering when a genuine pain source is identified.