Influence of Pain on Exercise-induced Hypoalgesia

NCT ID: NCT04354948

Last Updated: 2020-09-22

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 35 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2020-06-19
• Study Completion Date: 2020-09-14

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to investigate how acute pain induced by hypertonic saline prior to exercise influence the magnitude of exercise-induced hypoalgesia after a 3 min isometric wallsquat exercise in healthy subjects. The study is a single blinded (investigator) randomized cross-over trial The results from the study may be of great importance to the understanding of exercise-induced hypoalgesia, and whether the presence of pain affects the effects of exercise.

Detailed Description

Exercise is recommended to promote and maintain health and as treatment for more than 25 chronic diseases and pain conditions.

The mechanisms underlying pain relief of exercise are largely unknown but may be related to the modulation of central descending pain inhibitory pathways after acute exercise bouts. Exercise-induced hypoalgesia (EIH) is typically assessed as the temporary change in PPTs after a short acute exercise bout and EIH is seen as a proxy of descending pain inhibitory control. In general, EIH seems hypoalgesic (functional) in asymptomatic subjects. A hyperalgesic (impaired) EIH response has been reported in different chronic pain populations, although a functional EIH response also has been reported in subgroups of knee osteoarthritis patients. This implies differences in the acute response to exercise between healthy (pain-free) subjects and chronic pain patients, but it is still unknown whether the presence of pain itself affects the pain alleviating response (i.e. the EIH response) to acute exercise.

It is hypothesized that acute pain will decrease the EIH response magnitude following hypertonic saline injection compared with the control injection. This study will increase the insight into the EIH mechanisms in healthy subjects in general, and how the presence of pain affects the body's own ability to modulate pain during exercise.

Conditions

Pain

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Primary Study Purpose: BASIC_SCIENCE
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

Pain (hypertonic saline)

Injection (1 ml) of painful hypertonic saline (5.8%) prior to performance of the 3 min wall squat exercise

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Pain (hypertonic saline)

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

A bolus injection (1 ml) of hypertonic saline (5.8%) is injected into the right quadriceps femoris of the quadriceps femoris muscle 1 minute before performance of the 3 min wall squat exercise

No pain (Hypotonic saline)

Injection (1 ml) of non-painful isotonic saline (0.9%) prior to performance of the 3 min wall squat exercise

Group Type: PLACEBO_COMPARATOR

No pain (Hypotonic saline)

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

A bolus injection (1 ml) of isotonic saline (0.9%) is injected into the right quadriceps femoris of the quadriceps femoris muscle 1 minute before performance of the 3 min wall squat exercise

Interventions

Pain (hypertonic saline)

A bolus injection (1 ml) of hypertonic saline (5.8%) is injected into the right quadriceps femoris of the quadriceps femoris muscle 1 minute before performance of the 3 min wall squat exercise

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

No pain (Hypotonic saline)

A bolus injection (1 ml) of isotonic saline (0.9%) is injected into the right quadriceps femoris of the quadriceps femoris muscle 1 minute before performance of the 3 min wall squat exercise

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Pain-free
• Understands and writes Danish

Exclusion Criteria

• Pregnancy
• Previous addictive behavior defined as abuse of hash, opioids or other euphoric substances.
• Previous painful or mental illnesses, neurological or circulatory diseases in the form of heart or lung disease.
• Surgery within last 3 months
• Pain on the days of testing
• Pain for more than 2 weeks within the last 3 months

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 50 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Aalborg University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Odense University Hospital

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Henrik Bjarke Vægter

Associate Professor in Physiotherapy

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Henrik B Vægter, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Odense University Hospital

Locations

Pain Center, University Hospital Odense

Odense, Funen, Denmark

Countries

Denmark

References

Hansen S, Petersen KK, Sloth E, Manum LA, McDonald AK, Andersen PG, Vaegter HB. Hypoalgesia after exercises with painful vs. non-painful muscles in healthy subjects - a randomized cross-over study. Scand J Pain. 2021 Dec 27;22(3):614-621. doi: 10.1515/sjpain-2021-0161. Print 2022 Jul 26.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 34958721 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

S-20190081

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id