BACKGROUND Allodynia is a common and disabling symptom in many patients with neuropathic pain. Whereas quantification of pain mostly depends on subjective pain reports, allodynia can also be measured objectively with quantitative sensory testing. In this pilot study, we investigated the clinical relevance of quantitative sensory testing with Von Frey monofilaments in patients with allodynia as ...

Complex regional pain syndromes (CRPS) have been recognized with increasing frequency in children. These disorders appear to differ markedly from those observed in adults. The International Association for the Study of Pain diagnostic criteria for CRPS were developed based on adult studies; these criteria have not been validated for children. We performed standardized neurological examination a...

Pain is a major symptom in cancer patients, and most cancer patients with advanced or terminal cancers suffer from chronic pain related to treatment failure and/or tumor progression. In the present study, we examined the development of cancer pain in mice. Murine hepatocarcinoma cells, HCa-1, were inoculated unilaterally into the thigh or the dorsum of the foot of male C3H/HeJ mice. Four weeks ...

Opioid analgesics are one of the most often prescribed medication classes, and their use has increased dramatically, with the number of prescriptions doubling between 1998 and 2010. Moreover, long-term use of opioids is becoming more prevalent. The complications arising from opioid use have been clearly documented; however, a relatively unknown complication potentially linked to opioid use is a...

BACKGROUND Painful Diabetic Neuropathy (PDN) affects more than 25% of patients with type 2 diabetes; however, the pathogenesis remains unclear due to lack of knowledge of the molecular mechanisms leading to PDN. In our current study, we use an animal model of type 2 diabetes in order to understand the roles of p38 in PDN. Previously, we have demonstrated that the C57BLK db/db (db/db) mouse, a m...

Failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS) is a prevalent, debilitating condition that affects the quality of life of many patients. The role of peridural fibrosis in FBSS continues to be a source of controversy. The authors report an association between peridural fibrosis and tactile allodynia, but not neurological dysfunction in a rodent cauda equine crush injury model. Methods Twenty-one rats were ...

All previously published papers were reproduced with permission from the publisher. ABSTRACT Introduction and aim: Pain due to a light moving mechanical stimulus, dynamic mechanical allodynia, is a protruding symptom/sign in subgroups of patients with peripheral neuropathic pain and frequently as troublesome as spontaneous ongoing pain. The objective of this thesis was to survey psychophysical ...

Vincristine is a common anti-cancer therapy administered for the treatment of many types of tumors. Its dose-limiting side effect is the production of peripheral neuropathy, resulting in chronic neuropathic pain in many patients. An animal model of vincristine-induced sensory neuropathy was developed after repeated intraperitoneal injection in male rats and used in the present work to study the...

The present study was performed to observe the time course of behavioral signs of painful sensations in sciatic neurectomy animal model and to test the effects of sympathectomy and saphenous nerve section on these behavioral signs. Sciatic nerve was ligated and cut at the mid-thigh level under gaseous anesthesia. The application of von Frey filaments to the medial plantar surface of foot reveal...