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Query: UMLS:C0018681 (headache)
 56,091 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) was administered to 102 'toothache' patients to determine whether it was sufficiently sensitive to distinguish between dental patients whose pain was clinically diagnosed as originating from a reversibly inflamed tooth pulp (group I) and those whose pain was diagnosed as originating from an irreversibly inflamed or necrotic pulp (group II). Scores for Total Pain Rank Index (PRI(T)), Sensory Pain Rank Index (PRI(S)), Evaluative Pain Rank Index (PRI(E)), Miscellaneous Pain Rank Index (PRI(M)), and Number of Words Chosen (NWC) were significantly higher (p less than 0.05) for group II patients. The PRI differences between both groups were attributed mainly to the more frequent selection by group II patients of 8 of the 20 subclasses of words and/or of words with higher rank values within the 8 subclasses. A significantly greater degree of sleep disturbance, nausea, headache, drowsiness and/or dizziness was also found in group II patients. Discriminant analysis using the 20 subclasses and 4 supplementary questions related to sleep disturbance, changes in food intake or activity levels, and accompanying symptoms, indicated that the MPQ, when used alone, correctly predicted diagnosis and treatment outcome in 73% of patients. Therefore, our findings indicate that the MPQ can distinguish between the two types of toothache and suggest that, especially when used along with other standard diagnostic tests, it may be a useful clinical adjunct in the diagnosis of dental pain.
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PMID:Applicability of the McGill Pain Questionnaire to the differentiation of 'toothache' pain. 673 13

A new experimental human model of myofascial pain using intramuscular infusion of a combination of bradykinin, serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine), histamine, and prostaglandin E2 was applied to patients with episodic tension-type headache (ETTH) in order to examine pain perception. Fifteen patients with ETTH and 15 healthy controls completed the randomized, balanced, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study. Pain intensity, punctate hyperalgesia and allodynia, and pain quality were recorded. The combination induced a moderate and prolonged pain in both patients (median 51 min) (P = 0.001) and controls (median 22 min) (P = 0.001). Patients reported more pain than controls both after the combination (P = 0.045) and after placebo (P < 0.001). The McGill pain score [PRI(R)] was significantly higher in patients (P = 0.002) and in controls (P = 0.001), whereas pain quality and hyperalgesia were similar after the combination compared with placebo in the two groups. Due to side-effects nine subjects did not complete the study. The increased pain response, but similar qualitative pain perception, in ETTH patients may be explained by sensitization of peripheral nociceptors even though central mechanisms may also be involved.
Cephalalgia 2004 Jun
PMID:Possible mechanisms of pain perception in patients with episodic tension-type headache. A new experimental model of myofascial pain. 1515 56

Little or no information is available regarding the effect of the personality characteristics of headache sufferers on the quality of pain perception. The aim of this study is to investigate, in head pain sufferers, the relationship between the personality profile, assessed by the MMPI, and the different dimensions of pain (sensory, affective and evaluative), as assessed by the MPQ. Three hundred and seventeen patients with Migraine and/or tension-type headache (episodic or chronic) and myogenic facial pain were included. The Italian versions of the MMPI-2 and MPQ were administered, and the pain level was measured by the VAS. Cluster analysis based on the clinical scales of MMPI identified four personality profiles closely corresponding to the MMPI profiles obtained by the previous researchers: "depressive" (Dep.), "emotionally overwhelmed" (Emot.), "conversive" (Conv.) and "Coper". Differences in MPQ scales between personality profiles were investigated by means of a general linear model (GLM), adjusting for sex, age and pain level and type. Results of GLM analysis showed that the affective dimension was significantly higher in cluster Emot. than in Dep. (p=0.027), Conv. (p=0.002) and Coper (p=0.003). Total PRI was significantly higher in Emot. than in Conv. (p=0.010). The findings of the present study suggest that a specific personality profile (Emot.), characterized by a heavy emotional burden, may increase the affective dimension of pain with respect to a depressive profile (Dep.), a conversive profile (Conv.) or a normal profile (Coper), independent of sex, age and pain level and type.
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PMID:Personality profiles and subjective perception of pain in head pain patients. 1939 64