Sensory Perception in Lumbosacral Radiculopathy with Radicular Pain: Feasibility Study of Multimodal Bedside-Suitable Somatosensory Testing

Background. Somatosensory testing could be useful in stratifying pain patients and improving pain treatment guidelines. Bedside-suitable techniques are searched for application in daily clinical practice. This study aimed to characterize chronic unilateral lumbosacral radiculopathy (LSR) patients wi...

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Main Authors: Alfredas Vaitkus, Jūratė Šipylaitė
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Vilnius University Press 2021-04-01
Series:Acta Medica Lituanica
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.zurnalai.vu.lt/AML/article/view/22473
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author Alfredas Vaitkus
Jūratė Šipylaitė
author_facet Alfredas Vaitkus
Jūratė Šipylaitė
author_sort Alfredas Vaitkus
collection DOAJ
description Background. Somatosensory testing could be useful in stratifying pain patients and improving pain treatment guidelines. Bedside-suitable techniques are searched for application in daily clinical practice. This study aimed to characterize chronic unilateral lumbosacral radiculopathy (LSR) patients with radicular pain using multimodal bedside-suitable somatosensory testing. Materials and methods. We evaluated 50 chronic unilateral LSR patients with radicular pain (LSR group) and 24 controls (Control group). Sensory testing was performed using a battery of bedside sensory tests (10g monofilament, 200–400 mN brush, Lindblom rollers with controlled 25°C and 40°C temperature, and 40g neurological pin and investigator’s finger pressure). Participants had to rate their sensory perceptions on both legs at multiple test points within L3 to S2 dermatomes. Characteristics of the testing process and sensory disturbances were analyzed. Results. LSR group showed sensory disturbances in 82% of patients. The Control group showed no sensory disturbances. Sensory testing took longer (p < 0.001) in the LSR group (29.3 ± 6.5 minutes per patient) than in the Control group (20.5 ± 5.2). Nine sensory phenotypes were detected in the LSR group according to individual sensory disturbances within 5 superficial tests. Conclusions. The applied multimodal bedside-suitable somatosensory testing battery is suitable for sensory evaluation and characterization of LSR patients. Grouping of allied sensory phenotypes revealed some tendencies in pain intensity characteristics.
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spelling doaj.art-645e5c205a1b415c82d96c05f7cff0fb2022-12-21T23:35:48ZengVilnius University PressActa Medica Lituanica1392-01382029-41742021-04-0128110.15388/Amed.2021.28.1.18Sensory Perception in Lumbosacral Radiculopathy with Radicular Pain: Feasibility Study of Multimodal Bedside-Suitable Somatosensory TestingAlfredas Vaitkus0Jūratė Šipylaitė1Vilnius University, LithuaniaVilnius University, LithuaniaBackground. Somatosensory testing could be useful in stratifying pain patients and improving pain treatment guidelines. Bedside-suitable techniques are searched for application in daily clinical practice. This study aimed to characterize chronic unilateral lumbosacral radiculopathy (LSR) patients with radicular pain using multimodal bedside-suitable somatosensory testing. Materials and methods. We evaluated 50 chronic unilateral LSR patients with radicular pain (LSR group) and 24 controls (Control group). Sensory testing was performed using a battery of bedside sensory tests (10g monofilament, 200–400 mN brush, Lindblom rollers with controlled 25°C and 40°C temperature, and 40g neurological pin and investigator’s finger pressure). Participants had to rate their sensory perceptions on both legs at multiple test points within L3 to S2 dermatomes. Characteristics of the testing process and sensory disturbances were analyzed. Results. LSR group showed sensory disturbances in 82% of patients. The Control group showed no sensory disturbances. Sensory testing took longer (p < 0.001) in the LSR group (29.3 ± 6.5 minutes per patient) than in the Control group (20.5 ± 5.2). Nine sensory phenotypes were detected in the LSR group according to individual sensory disturbances within 5 superficial tests. Conclusions. The applied multimodal bedside-suitable somatosensory testing battery is suitable for sensory evaluation and characterization of LSR patients. Grouping of allied sensory phenotypes revealed some tendencies in pain intensity characteristics.https://www.zurnalai.vu.lt/AML/article/view/22473sensory testingbedside testingsensory phenotypingback painlumbosacral radiculopathy
spellingShingle Alfredas Vaitkus
Jūratė Šipylaitė
Sensory Perception in Lumbosacral Radiculopathy with Radicular Pain: Feasibility Study of Multimodal Bedside-Suitable Somatosensory Testing
Acta Medica Lituanica
sensory testing
bedside testing
sensory phenotyping
back pain
lumbosacral radiculopathy
title Sensory Perception in Lumbosacral Radiculopathy with Radicular Pain: Feasibility Study of Multimodal Bedside-Suitable Somatosensory Testing
title_full Sensory Perception in Lumbosacral Radiculopathy with Radicular Pain: Feasibility Study of Multimodal Bedside-Suitable Somatosensory Testing
title_fullStr Sensory Perception in Lumbosacral Radiculopathy with Radicular Pain: Feasibility Study of Multimodal Bedside-Suitable Somatosensory Testing
title_full_unstemmed Sensory Perception in Lumbosacral Radiculopathy with Radicular Pain: Feasibility Study of Multimodal Bedside-Suitable Somatosensory Testing
title_short Sensory Perception in Lumbosacral Radiculopathy with Radicular Pain: Feasibility Study of Multimodal Bedside-Suitable Somatosensory Testing
title_sort sensory perception in lumbosacral radiculopathy with radicular pain feasibility study of multimodal bedside suitable somatosensory testing
topic sensory testing
bedside testing
sensory phenotyping
back pain
lumbosacral radiculopathy
url https://www.zurnalai.vu.lt/AML/article/view/22473
work_keys_str_mv AT alfredasvaitkus sensoryperceptioninlumbosacralradiculopathywithradicularpainfeasibilitystudyofmultimodalbedsidesuitablesomatosensorytesting
AT juratesipylaite sensoryperceptioninlumbosacralradiculopathywithradicularpainfeasibilitystudyofmultimodalbedsidesuitablesomatosensorytesting