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Pain Centralization and Patient-Reported Pain in RA

Publish date:: July 8, 2019

In patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), pain centralization was associated with more intense pain, a new study found. Researchers examined the independent contribution of pain centralization to the pain experience of patients with active RA. 263 RA patients with active disease underwent quantitative sensory testing (QST), including assessment of extra-articular pressure pain thresholds (PPTs), temporal summation (TS), and conditioned pain modulation (CPM). Among the findings:

Patients with the lowest PPTs reported higher pain intensity vs patients with the highest PPTs.
Those with the highest TS had higher pain intensity vs those with the lowest TS.
CPM was not associated with differences in pain intensity.
Patients with the lowest CPM had lower pain interference vs those with the highest CPM.

Citation:

Heisler AC, et al. Association of pain centralization and patient-reported pain in active rheumatoid arthritis. [Published online ahead of print June 4, 2019]. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). doi: 10.1002/acr.23994.

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