Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 31, 2026

3D-Neuronavigation In Vivo Through a Patient's Brain During a Spontaneous Migraine Headache
Published on: June 2, 2014
Altered cardiovascular/pain regulatory relationships in chronic pain
S Bruehl1, J W Burns, J A McCubbin
1Center for Pain Studies, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60611, USA.
Abstract:
In healthy individuals, there is an inverse relationship between resting blood pressure (BP) and pain sensitivity. This study examined possible dysregulation of this adaptive relation in chronic pain patients, and tested whether the extent of this dysregulation is a function of pain duration. Continuous resting BP's were assessed for 5 min after a 5-min rest period in 121 chronic benign pain patients. Unlike the inverse relationship observed previously in normals, mean resting diastolic. BPs during the assessment period were correlated positively with ratings of pain severity. A Pain Duration x Systolic BP interaction emerged (p < .05) such that the magnitude of the BP-pain relation was greatest in patients with the longest duration of pain, r(38) = .50, p < .001. A hypothesized progressive alteration in endogenous pain regulatory systems in chronic pain patients was supported. A possible role of endogenous opioid dysfunction in accounting for these alterations is discussed.
Related Concept Videos
Nociception
Analgesia and Pain Management
Pain
Peripheral Artery Disease III: Interprofessional Care
Psychoneuroimmunology: Cardiovascular Disease
A key area of focus in PNI is the relationship between stress and coronary...
Acute Inflammation III: Local and Systemic Effects

