Abnormal responses to electrocutaneous stimulation in fibromyalgia

Abstract

Objective: As disturbed nociception may be relevant to the pathogenesis of fibromyalgia, nonnoxious electrocutaneous stimulation was used as a tool to investigate nociceptive status.

Methods: Perception threshold and pain tolerance were studied in the upper limbs of 10 patients with fibromyalgia and 10 healthy volunteers.

Results: Perception threshold did not differ between the groups but the marked reduction in pain tolerance found in patients with fibromyalgia was accompanied by spread and persistence of dysesthesiae.

Conclusion: The upper limbs of patients with fibromyalgia resembled regions of secondary hyperalgesia, which may imply that perturbation of central nociceptive mechanisms is involved in the pathogenesis of this syndrome.