RT - Journal of Oral & Facial Pain and Headache ID - 10.11607/jofph.19239 T1 - Blink Reflexes in Patients with Atypical Odontalgia A1 - Lene Baad-Hansen A1 - Thomas List A1 - Troels Staehelin Jensen A1 - Göran Leijon A1 - Peter Svensson K1 - atypical odontalgia; blink reflex; capsaicin; pain; trigeminal nociception YR - 2005 SP - 239 AB -

Aims: To use the human blink reflex (BR) to explore possible neu-ropathic pain mechanisms in patients with atypical odontalgia (AO). Methods: In 13 AO patients, the BR was elicited using a concentric electrode and recorded bilaterally with surface elec-tromyographic (EMG) electrodes on both orbicularis oculi mus-cles. Electrical stimuli were applied to the skin above branches of the V1, V2, and V3 nerves and to the V branch contralateral to the painful branch. Sensory and pain thresholds were determined. The BR examination of the painful V branch was repeated during a capsaicin pain-provocation test. The data were analyzed with nonparametric statistics. Results: The BR responses (R2 and R3) evoked by stimulation of V3 were significantly smaller than the BR responses evoked by stimulation of V1 and V2 (P < .004). There were no differences in BR (R2 or R3) between the painful and nonpainful sides (P > .569), and the BR (R2 and R3) was not significantly modulated by experimental pain (P > .080). The sen-sory thresholds were significantly lower on the painful side com-pared to the nonpainful side (P = .014). The pain thresholds were not different between sides (P > .910). Conclusion: No major dif-ferences between the V nociceptive pathways on the right and left sides were found in a relatively small group of AO patients. Future studies that compare BRs in AO patients and healthy volunteers are needed to provide further knowledge on the pain mechanisms in AO.