Altered autonomic nervous system reactivity to pain in trigeminal neuralgia.
Can J Neurol Sci
; 42(2): 125-31, 2015 Mar.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-25804249
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
In the past two decades, there has been increasing evidence to suggest that trigeminal neuralgia (TN) may be linked to a dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). The aim of the present study was to formally test this hypothesis by comparing the reactivity of the ANS to experimental pain in a population of TN patients and healthy controls.METHODS:
Twelve patients diagnosed with classical TN and 12 healthy controls participated in the study. Cardiac activity was assessed while participants were instructed to rest and again during a cold pressor test (CPT). Heart rate variability analyses were performed off-line to obtain parasympathetic (high-frequency) and sympathetic (low-frequency) indices.RESULTS:
At baseline, ANS measures did not differ between healthy controls and TN patients, and both groups showed a similar increase in heart rate during the CPT (all p values >0.05). However, TN patients showed a greater increase in cardiac sympathetic activity and a greater decrease in cardiac parasympathetic activity during CPT compared with healthy controls (all p values <0.05). Importantly, changes in sympathetic reactivity, from baseline to CPT, were negatively associated with the number of pain paroxysms experienced each day by TN patients in the preceding week (r=-.58, p<0.05).CONCLUSIONS:
These results suggest that TN, like many other short-lasting, unilateral facial pain conditions, is linked to ANS alterations. Future studies are required to determine if the altered ANS response observed in TN patients is a cause or a consequence of TN pain.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pain
/
Autonomic Nervous System
/
Trigeminal Neuralgia
Type of study:
Etiology_studies
Limits:
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
En
Journal:
Can J Neurol Sci
Year:
2015
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Canada