The majority of patients experiencing acute pain recover, however more than 40% continues to have pain lasting for a period of 3 months or longer. Many factors have been shown to influence long-term pain episodes; however, interventions with the intention of reducing psychosocial and environmental risks factors are often only marginally successful in decreasing the incidence of long-term pain and disability. Now selective pain sensitivity and differential gene expression profiles have also been demonstrated in patients with acute low back pain.
Acute LBP participants showed amplified selective pain sensitivity and differential gene expression profiles compared to a pain-free control group. This warrants further research into this area of pain research, and may be an issue in the development of chronic pain.
> From: Starkweather et al., Clin J Pain (2016-01-21 06:55:44) (Epub ahead of print). All rights reserved to Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. Click here for the online summary.