Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 10, 2026
07:12
Chronic Post-Ischemia Pain Model for Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Type-I in Rats
Published on: January 21, 2020
Viscero-visceral hyperalgesia: characterization in different clinical models
Maria Adele Giamberardino1, Raffaele Costantini, Giannapia Affaitati
1Department of Medicine and Science of Aging, G. D'Annunzio University of Chieti, Italy Institute of Surgical Pathology, G. D'Annunzio University of Chieti, Italy.
Pain
|July 20, 2010
Summary
Pain from two internal organs can worsen each other, a phenomenon called viscero-visceral hyperalgesia. Treating one condition often relieved pain from the other, especially when organs shared nerve pathways.
Area of Science:
- Pain research
- Gastroenterology
- Gynecology
- Urology
- Cardiology
Background:
- Co-existing pain conditions in different organs can amplify pain perception.
- Viscero-visceral hyperalgesia describes the mutual enhancement of pain between two visceral organs.
- Understanding these interactions is crucial for effective pain management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the phenomenon of viscero-visceral hyperalgesia in various patient cohorts.
- To assess the impact of treating one condition on the symptoms of a co-existing condition.
- To explore the role of common sensory pathways in mediating these pain interactions.
Main Methods:
- Prospective evaluation of patients with combinations of coronary artery disease (CAD) + gallstones (Gs), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) + dysmenorrhea (Dys), dysmenorrhea/endometriosis + urinary calculosis (Cal), and Gs + left urinary calculosis (LCal).
- Comparison of spontaneous and referred pain symptoms (muscle hyperalgesia, pain thresholds) between patients with combined conditions and those with single conditions.
- Re-assessment of symptoms after treatment of individual conditions or after a no-treatment period.
Main Results:
- CAD+Gs patients reported more intense pain and referred hyperalgesia; treatments for one condition improved symptoms of the other.
- IBS+Dys patients experienced increased pain and hyperalgesia; treatment of either condition led to symptom improvement in the other.
- Cal+Dys patients showed heightened pain and referred hyperalgesia; treatments were mutually beneficial.
- Gs+LCal patients did not show symptom improvement after individual treatments, suggesting a different mechanism or lack of common projection.
Conclusions:
- Viscero-visceral hyperalgesia significantly enhances pain symptoms when conditions share common sensory projections.
- Treating one of the co-existing conditions can alleviate pain associated with the other, particularly when nerve pathways overlap.
- Sensitization of convergent neurons likely underlies viscero-visceral hyperalgesia in conditions with shared sensory innervation.
Related Concept Videos
01:29Overview of Somatic Sensory Pathways
Somatic sensory or somatosensory pathways refer to the neural pathways that carry information related to touch, pressure, pain, temperature, and proprioception from the skin, muscles, tendons, and joints to the brain. These pathways involve several stages of processing and integration of sensory information.
The somatosensory system is divided into three main pathways: the dorsal (or posterior) column-medial lemniscus, spinothalamic (or anterolateral), and spinocerebellar pathways.
The dorsal...
The somatosensory system is divided into three main pathways: the dorsal (or posterior) column-medial lemniscus, spinothalamic (or anterolateral), and spinocerebellar pathways.
The dorsal...
01:24Local Anesthetics: Differential Sensitivity of Nerve Fibers
Local anesthetics (LAs) block the sodium channels of nerve trunks, sensory nerve endings, and neuromuscular junctions. Although LAs can block all kinds of nerves, the sensitivity of nerve fibers differs according to nerve types and structures. LAs are known to block myelinated fibers faster than unmyelinated ones. Also, they block pain or sensory neurons at low concentrations without affecting the motor neurons involved in muscle contractions. This helps relieve labor pain without affecting the...
01:25Analgesia and Pain Management
Pain is critical to various clinical pathologies, provoking an urgent need for effective management. Pain, whether acute or chronic, is a complex neurochemical process. Its alleviation depends on the type, with nonopioid analgesics effective for mild to moderate pain, such as musculoskeletal or inflammatory pain, while neuropathic pain responds best to anticonvulsants, tricyclic antidepressants, or serotonin/norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors. For severe acute or chronic pain, opioids may be...
01:28Major Somatic Sensory Pathways
Sensory impulses related to touch, pressure, vibration, and proprioception from various body parts, such as the limbs, trunk, neck, and posterior head, travel to the cerebral cortex through the posterior column-medial lemniscus pathway. The pathway’s name derives from the two white-matter tracts that convey the impulses: the spinal cord's posterior column and the brainstem's medial lemniscus. First-order sensory neurons extend their axons into the spinal cord, forming the posterior columns...
01:33Somatosensation
The somatosensory system relays sensory information from the skin, mucous membranes, limbs, and joints. Somatosensation is more familiarly known as the sense of touch. A typical somatosensory pathway includes three types of long neurons: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary neurons have cell bodies located near the spinal cord in groups of neurons called dorsal root ganglia. The sensory neurons of ganglia innervate designated areas of skin called dermatomes.