Clinical sensory nociceptive testing (kSNT) in pain physiotherapy

The current knowledge in the understanding of pain distinguishes between nociception and perception. Quantitative sensory testing enables the detection of peripheral and central nociceptive sensitization.

Situation

In the past, clinical diagnosis and therapy mainly involved measuring the pain experience (e.g. NRS 0 to 10, Likert scale, etc.), which led to a distortion of responsiveness to therapeutic stimuli. In response, quantitative sensory testing (QST) was developed in the field of neuropathic pain, which made nociception visible to the clinician. Since QST is a very time-consuming and expensive procedure, solutions were sought for everyday clinical practice. in this context a working group led by Baron et al. developed a Bedside Test for QST. This bedside QST has been validated for clinical measurement in neuropathic pain. Observations in practice suggest that bedside QST can also be used for other pain phenotypes. In the future a modified clinical sensory nociceptive test (kSNT) could become a tool in pain physiotherapy to detect peripheral and central sensitization, as well as nociplastic changes within nociceptive, neuropathic, and nociplastic pain phenotypes.

Course of action

Development and validation of a clinical sensory nociceptive test (kSNT) for daily use in physiotherapy and establishment of reference values in healthy subjects. Evaluate the response of physiotherapy skills (e.g. TENS types) to changes of nociception depending on pain phenotypes.

Contact

Dr. Kay Hanusch

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This project contributes to the following SDGs

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