Evaluation of the Current Perception and Pain Tolerance Thresholds

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study is to measure current perception threshold (CPT) values and pain equivalent current (PEC) values alteration on injury side and normal side in unilateral trigeminal nerve injuries by the new method for quantitative sensory testing (QST), through the comparison with currently using QST to discuss the clinical usefulness in trigeminal nerve injuries diagnosis. Methods: We assessed 62 patients who had unilateral trigeminal nerve injuries with the obvious clinical symptoms, and among the patients we measured 56 by Neurometer® (Neurotron Inc., Baltimore, Mary-land, USA). We enrolled 62 healthy controls to compare with patients by using Pain-View® (PV300., Ossein. Korea) and determined the correlation between Pain-View® and Neurometer®. Result: There were differences values between the injury side and the normal side by using PV (p < 0.001). In healthy controls, there had no values difference in each side (p < 0.001). In the test, there were a strong correlation between the Neurometer® values and PV values (Neurometer® values at 2000Hz, 250Hz, 5Hz; PV values at current perception threshold and pain equivalent current). Conclusions: Pain-View® and Neurometer® had the same performs as an objective assessment method for trigeminal nerve injuries. Pain-View® is an effective and relatively simple procedure for measuring perception and it is a useful tool to confirm the quantitative analysis of pain reception and sensation.