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The influence of brushing force and stroking velocity on dynamic mechanical allodynia in patients with peripheral neuropathy
Author(s) -
Samuelssonl Monika,
Lefflerl AnnSofie,
Johanssonl Bo,
Hanssonl Per
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
european journal of pain
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.305
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1532-2149
pISSN - 1090-3801
DOI - 10.1016/j.ejpain.2010.09.004
Subject(s) - allodynia , medicine , peripheral , peripheral neuropathy , physical medicine and rehabilitation , anesthesia , hyperalgesia , receptor , endocrinology , diabetes mellitus , nociception
Recently we demonstrated brush‐evoked allodynia to be a partially graded phenomenon since increased brushing length and number of strokes significantly increased the brush‐evoked pain intensity. In this study the influence of stroking velocity and brushing force on dynamic mechanical allodynia was examined in 16 patients with peripheral neuropathy. Brush‐evoked allodynia was induced by lightly stroking 60 mm of the skin twice with a 16 mm wide brush while varying stroking velocity (10, 20, 30 mm/s) and brushing force (10, 20, 40 g). Intensity and duration of brush‐evoked allodynia was recorded using a computerized visual analogue scale. The total brush‐evoked pain intensity, including painful aftersensation was calculated as the area under the curve. Significantly increased total brush‐evoked pain intensity was demonstrated with lower stroking velocity ( P <0.001) and higher brushing force ( P <0.05). Higher maximum pain intensity was reported with higher brushing force. In conclusion, our findings demonstrated a significant relationship between the total brush‐evoked pain intensity and stroking velocity as well as brushing force. Together with previously accumulated data these results substantiate the usefulness of this semi‐quantitative assessment method in longitudinal studies on dynamic mechanical allodynia.