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Updated: Feb 3, 2026

Author Spotlight: Quantifying Pain Experience – An Illustrative Approach Using the Pain Body Diagram

Author Spotlight: Quantifying Pain Experience – An Illustrative Approach Using the Pain Body Diagram

Published on: July 7, 2023

Visceral Pain.

Luke Grundy^1,2, Andelain Erickson^1,2, Stuart M Brierley^1,2

¹Visceral Pain Research Group, College of Medicine and Public Health, Centre for Neuroscience, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia 5042, Australia;

Annual Review of Physiology

|November 1, 2018

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Chronic visceral pain affects over 20% of the global population, often without a clear cause. This review explores the mechanisms and contributing factors behind this debilitating condition, impacting quality of life and incurring significant costs.

Keywords:

afferents bladder colon mechanosensation neurons nociception

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Gastroenterology
Urology

Background:

Chronic visceral pain affects over 20% of the global population.
It is often debilitating, reduces quality of life, and has significant socioeconomic costs.
In many cases, no obvious pathological cause is identified.

Purpose of the Study:

To review key mechanisms underlying chronic abdominal and pelvic pain.
To highlight contributing factors in functional and inflammatory disorders of the gastrointestinal and urinary tracts.

Main Methods:

Review of scientific literature on visceral pain mechanisms.
Focus on innervation of colon and bladder by spinal afferents.
Analysis of sensitization and neuroplasticity in visceral pain pathways.

Main Results:

Exploration of how colon and bladder afferents become sensitized.
Discussion of neuroplasticity development within visceral pain pathways.
Identification of contributing factors: altered gut microbiota, mucosal permeability, epithelial-nerve interactions, immune/stress responses, and organ cross-talk.

Conclusions:

Chronic visceral pain involves complex mechanisms including sensitized afferents and neuroplasticity.
Altered gut microbiota, mucosal integrity, and immune/stress responses play crucial roles.
Understanding these mechanisms is vital for managing functional and inflammatory visceral pain disorders.