Evaluation of pain and flexor reflex responses and their association with clinical parameters in patients with fibromyalgia

Özet

Objectives: In the present study, we aimed to evaluate electrophysiological outcomes of flexor reflexes (FR) emerging in response to painful stimuli in fibromyalgia (FM) patients.Patients and methods: This study included a total of 21 female FM patients (mean age 36.8±8.0 years; range, 20 to 50 years) and 28 healthy female controls (mean age 37.3±8.8 years; range, 22 to 53 years). Clinical features of the patients, Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) scores were recorded. Electrophysiological stimulation threshold, visual analog scale (VAS) scores of generated pain after each stimulation, current intensity, flexor responses obtained from muscles, and electrophysiological measurement of these responses were noted.Results: The threshold for perception of electrical current was higher and resistance level to maximum electrical current was lower in FM patients (p 0.05).Conclusion: Based on these findings, FR responses may be useful as an electrophysiological parameter in FM diagnosis.