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Heightened Temporal Summation of Pain in Patients with Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders and History of Trauma

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Annals of Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

Background

Individuals with functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) report experiencing trauma more often than healthy controls, but little is known regarding psychophysical correlates.

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that adolescents and young adults with FGIDs since childhood and a trauma history (n = 38) would exhibit heightened temporal summation to thermal pain stimuli, an index of central sensitization, and greater clinical symptoms compared to patients with FGIDs and no trauma history (n = 95) and healthy controls (n = 135).

Methods

Participants completed self-report measures, an experimental pain protocol, and psychiatric diagnostic interview as part of a larger longitudinal study.

Results

FGID + Trauma patients exhibited greater temporal summation than FGID + No Trauma patients and healthy controls. Additionally, FGID + Trauma patients exhibited greater gastrointestinal and non-gastrointestinal symptom severity, number of chronic pain sites, and disability.

Conclusions

Assessing for trauma history in patients with FGIDs could identify a subset at risk for greater central sensitization and pain-related symptoms.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by R01 HD23264 (L.S. Walker, principal investigator), R01 DA031726 (S. Bruehl, principal investigator), Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (P30 HD15052), Vanderbilt Digestive Disease Research Center (DK058404), and the Vanderbilt CTSA (1 UL1 RR024975) from the National Center for Research Resources, National Institutes of Health.

Authors’ Statement of Conflict of Interest and Adherence to Ethical Standards

Authors Amanda L. Sherman, Matthew C. Morris, Stephen Bruehl, Travis D. Westbrook, and Lynn S. Walker declare that they have no conflict of interest. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA

    Amanda L. Sherman MS

  2. Department of Family and Community Medicine, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN, USA

    Matthew C. Morris PhD

  3. Department of Anesthesiology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA

    Stephen Bruehl PhD

  4. Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

    Travis D. Westbrook BA

  5. Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA

    Lynn S. Walker PhD

  6. Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Health, Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, 2146 Belcourt Ave., Nashville, TN, 37212, USA

    Lynn S. Walker PhD

Authors
  1. Amanda L. Sherman MS
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  4. Travis D. Westbrook BA
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  5. Lynn S. Walker PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lynn S. Walker PhD.

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Sherman, A.L., Morris, M.C., Bruehl, S. et al. Heightened Temporal Summation of Pain in Patients with Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders and History of Trauma. ann. behav. med. 49, 785–792 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-015-9712-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-015-9712-5

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