Auditory Evoked Potentials and Experimental Pain

The Amplitude of Auditory Evoked Potentials and the Intensity of Experimental Pain Stimulation in Healthy Volunteers

Monitoring of auditory evoked potentials (AEP) in patients during general anaesthesia is commonly used to ensure a sufficient hypnotic level during surgery. The amplitude of AEP (AEPa) has in clinical settings been found to correlate to pain. The aim of the study was to test, if AEPa could detect increasing experimental pain stimulations in healthy volunteers. Electric nerve stimulation, cold and heat pain were used as pain models.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Pain

Detailed Description

During the AEP monitoring, healthy volunteers were exposed to experimental pain. At study day 1: Firstly, single electric nerve stimulation and repetitive electric nerve stimulations causing temporal pain summation. The stimulations were given at 50, 75 and 100% of the thresholds for pain tolerance and temporal pain summation. Secondly, the volunteers were exposed to cold pain by use of two different Cold Pressor Tests (CPT) with water temperatures at 8 and 1 Celsius. All measurements were repeated after an hour to test reproducibility.

At study day 2: Brief Thermal Stimulation were used with two different temperatures and duration.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 20

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 20 years to 40 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

healthy volunteers

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Healthy
• Age 20 - 40 years old

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

2

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
1
2

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
VAS and amplitude of AEP	before, during and after experimental pain

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
reproducibility	after an hour

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Odense University Hospital
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Thomas P Enggaard, MD, Odense University Hospital

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: October 1, 2007
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 1, 2008
• Study Completion (Actual): July 1, 2008

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 2, 2008
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 2, 2008
• First Posted (Estimate): September 3, 2008

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): September 3, 2008
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 2, 2008
• Last Verified: September 1, 2008

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: healthy volunteers; experimental pain; AEP
• Other Study ID Numbers: 30071993