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Hypersensitivity and hyperalgesia in somatoform pain disorders
Niklaus Egloff1, Rafael J A Cámara2, Roland von Känel1
1Department of General Internal Medicine, Division of Psychosomatic Medicine, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, CH-3010 Bern, Switzerland; Department of Clinical Research, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland.
General Hospital Psychiatry
|March 22, 2014
Summary
Many patients with somatoform pain disorders also meet criteria for functional pain syndromes and exhibit heightened pain sensitivity. This highlights the need to incorporate somatosensory factors into understanding somatoform pain.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry and Pain Medicine
- Neuroscience and Somatosensory Research
Background:
- Somatoform pain disorders, historically linked to somatization, are distinct from functional pain syndromes.
- Functional pain syndromes are characterized by objectively measured enhanced pain sensitivity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the overlap between somatoform pain disorders and functional pain syndromes.
- To assess enhanced pain sensitivity in patients diagnosed with somatoform pain disorders.
Main Methods:
- Algometric methods were used to measure pain sensitivity in 120 hospitalized patients.
- Patients with somatoform pain disorder were categorized based on the presence or absence of a functional pain syndrome diagnosis.
- A control group with nociceptive pain was included for comparison.
Main Results:
- 67 out of 120 patients met criteria for somatoform pain disorder.
- 61% of these patients (41/67) also met criteria for a functional pain syndrome.
- Patients with somatoform pain disorder demonstrated significantly enhanced pain sensitivity compared to controls, regardless of functional pain syndrome co-diagnosis (P<.001).
Conclusions:
- There is substantial overlap between somatoform pain disorders and functional pain syndromes.
- Enhanced pain sensitivity is a common feature in somatoform pain disorders.
- Integrating somatosensory system findings is crucial for a refined understanding of somatoform pain.
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