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Updated: May 29, 2026

Chronic Post-Ischemia Pain Model for Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Type-I in Rats
Published on: January 21, 2020
Bilateral somatosensory cortex disinhibition in complex regional pain syndrome type I
1Department of Neurology, Berufsgenossenschaftliches Universitätsklinikum Bergmannsheil GmbH, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bürkle-de-la-Camp-Platz 1, 44789 Bochum, Germany. melanie.lenz@rub.de
Objective:
In a previous study, we found bilateral disinhibition in the motor cortex of patients with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). This finding suggests a complex dysfunction of central motor-sensory circuits. The aim of our present study was to assess possible bilateral excitability changes in the somatosensory system of patients with CRPS.
Methods:
We measured paired-pulse suppression of somatosensory evoked potentials in 21 patients with unilateral CRPS I involving the hand. Eleven patients with upper limb pain of non-neuropathic origin and 21 healthy subjects served as controls. Innocuous paired-pulse stimulation of the median nerve was either performed at the affected and the unaffected hand, or at the dominant hand of healthy controls, respectively.
Results:
We found a significant reduction of paired-pulse suppression in both sides of patients with CRPS, compared with control patients and healthy control subjects.
Conclusion:
These findings resemble our findings in the motor system and strongly support the hypothesis of a bilateral complex impairment of central motor-sensory circuits in CRPS I.
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