Background: The impairment in musculoskeletal structures in patients with low back pain
(LBP) is often disproportionate to their complaint. Therefore, the need arises for exploration of
alternative mechanisms contributing to the origin and maintenance of non-specific LBP. The
recent focus has been on central nervous system phenomena in LBP and the pathophysiological
mechanisms underlying the various symptoms and characteristics of chronic pain. Knowledge
concerning changes in pain processing in LBP remains ambiguous, partly due to the diversity in
the LBP population.
Objective: The purpose of this study is to compare quantitative sensory assessment in different
groups of LBP patients with regard to chronicity. Recurrent low back pain (RLBP), mild chronic low
back pain (CLBP), and severe CLBP are compared on the one hand with healthy controls (HC),
and on the other hand with fibromyalgia (FM) patients, in which abnormal pain processing has
previously been reported.
Study Design: Cross-sectional study.
Setting: Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Ghent University, Belgium.
Methods: Twenty-three RLBP, 15 mild CLBP, 16 severe CLBP, 26 FM, and 21 HC participated in this
study. Quantitative sensory testing was conducted by manual pressure algometry and computercontrolled cuff algometry. A manual algometer was used to evaluate hyperalgesia as well as
temporal summation of pain and a cuff algometer was used to evaluate deep tissue hyperalgesia,
the efficacy of the conditioned pain modulation and spatial summation of pain.
Results: Pressure pain thresholds by manual algometry were significantly lower in FM compared
to HC, RLBP, and severe CLBP. Temporal summation of pain was significantly higher in FM compared
to HC and RLBP. Pain tolerance thresholds assessed by cuff algometry were significantly lower in
FM compared to HC and RLBP and also in severe CLBP compared to RLBP. No significant differences
between groups were found for spatial summation or conditioned pain modulation.
Limitations: No psychosocial issues were taken into account for this study.
Conclusion: The present results suggest normal pain sensitivity in RLBP, but future research is
needed. In mild and severe CLBP some findings of altered pain processing are evident, although
to a lesser extent compared to FM patients. In conclusion, mild and severe CLBP presents within
a spectrum, somewhere between completely healthy persons and FM patients, characterized by
pain augmentation.
Key words: Low back pain, fibromyalgia, pain assessment, quantitative sensory testing,
central sensitization, hypersensitivity, temporal summation, spatial summation, conditioned pain
modulation
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