Positron Emission Tomography to Measure Pain and Pain Control

Brief summary (from the registry)

This study will examine how the brain processes pain signals and how the different parts of the brain work with each other in response to painful stimuli. A better understanding of how people experience pain may be helpful in developing more effective treatments. Healthy normal volunteers, patients requiring third molar (wisdom tooth) extraction, and patients with persistent pain due to disease, injury or other reason may be eligible for this study. Participants will receive one or more of the following sensory stimuli, which may cause brief discomfort or pain: * Heat/Cold - applied by an electronically controlled device that touches the skin, or by temperature-controlled water baths, or by a thermally controlled brass cylinder the subject grasps * Capsaicin (active ingredient in hot chili peppers) - injected in a small volume of fluid under the skin or into a muscle * Mechanical stimulation - brushings or vibrations that do not normally cause pain * Ischemic stimulation - inflation of a blood pressure cuff on the arm or leg for up to 30 minutes These stimuli will be applied both before and during positron emission tomography (PET) scanning. This test shows which parts of the brain are active and which are not and is important for studying how different parts of the brain work together to feel and react to specific sensations. For this procedure, the subject lies on a table in the PET scanner while a series of scans are taken during different sensory conditions. At the beginning of each scan, radioactive water is injected into an arm vein through a catheter (a thin plastic tube). A special camera records the arrival and disappearance of the radiation in various brain areas, creating a picture of the brain's activity in various regions. Oral surgery patients may have PET scans both before and after their wisdom tooth extraction. Alfentanil, a commonly used narcotic pain reliever, will also be given during the PET procedure to determine how the brain responds to senso…

Study details

Official title

Somatosensory Studies of Pain and Pain Control Measured With Oxygen-15 Water Positron Emission Tomography and Functional MRI in Normals and Patients With Neuropathic or Chronic Pain Conditions

Conditions

• Healthy
• Hyperalgesia
• Pain
• Peripheral Nervous System Disease

Interventions

• Drug: Oxygen-15 Water
• Drug: Capsaicin

Sponsor

National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)

Organization

National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC)

Start date

1992-08

Sex

All

Healthy volunteers

true

Results posted

No results posted in this snapshot

Countries

United States

Total sites listed

1

Eligibility criteria