Open AccessEvaluation of Low Back Pain: Comparative Study Between Psychophysical Methods
Author(s) -
Colhado Orlando Carlos G.,
MouraSiqueira Hilze B. O.,
Pedrosa Débora Fernanda A.,
Saltareli Simone,
Silva Talita de Cássia Raminelli,
Hortense Priscilla,
Faleiros Sousa Fátima A. E.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
pain medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.893
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1526-4637
pISSN - 1526-2375
DOI - 10.1111/pme.12152
Subject(s) - medicine , levobupivacaine , anesthesia , saline , methylprednisolone , double blind study , low back pain , double blind , analgesic , placebo , alternative medicine , pathology
Objective The aims of this study were to validate the measurement of low back pain by different psychophysical methods and to compare different methods of pain measurement. Methods This double‐blind, randomized experimental study was realized in B razil. The sample was 60 patients with low back pain, divided into two groups: group I (methylprednisolone 80 mg + 8 mL of 0.9% saline solution) and group II (methylprednisolone 80 mg + 5 mL of levobupivacaine without epinephrine + 3 mL of 0.9% saline solution), both using 10‐mL syringes. The methods were the serial exploration and psychophysical (magnitude estimation, category estimation, and cross‐modality matching).Results Pain evaluation was carried out before the block and 30 minutes, 6, 12, and 24 hours after it. After 30 minutes of epidural block, the levobupivacaine group presented more significant reaction of reduction pain than the saline group. The magnitude and line‐length scales were evaluated every period of time, showing no significant differences, except in 12 and 24 hours after the first block. The exponential function to every evaluation ranged from 0.87 to 1.00. Conclusion This research tries to bring to health care an original method for measuring low back pain. It is noteworthy that in the future, more research is needed to apply this method in clinical and scientific fields.