pain medicine papers | Gist.Science

Meta-analytic Evidence for Four Amplifier Loops in Chronic Pain Chronification: The Pain Amplifier Loop Framework (PALF) as a Conceptual Risk Index for Prospective Validation

This meta-analysis of over 500,000 participants quantifies the significant impact of four biopsychosocial amplifier loops—sleep disturbance, pain catastrophizing, metabolic/inflammatory markers, and preoperative opioid use—on chronic pain chronification, proposing the Pain Amplifier Loop Framework (PALF) as a hypothesis-driven composite risk index that requires prospective validation before clinical application.

Arranz-Duran, J.2026-04-07📄 pain medicine

Beyond intensity: Pain distribution shapes healthcare- and treatment-seeking beliefs in individuals with and without clinical pain

This study demonstrates that beyond pain intensity, the spatial distribution of pain significantly influences individuals' beliefs about seeking healthcare and treatment, revealing that people systematically value reductions in pain spread and view it as a critical factor in pain management decisions.

Frankenstein, T., Intert, S., Szikszay, T. M. + 5 more2026-04-04📄 pain medicine

PainWaive: A Consumer-grade Digitally Delivered EEG Neurofeedback Intervention for Chronic Low Back Pain

This study demonstrates that PainWaive, a consumer-grade, digitally delivered EEG neurofeedback intervention, significantly reduced pain severity and interference in individuals with chronic low back pain while maintaining high usability and acceptability, warranting further evaluation in randomized trials.

Hesam-Shariati, N., Ermolenko, E., Chowdhury, N. + 5 more2026-04-01📄 pain medicine

Association of Suzetrigine With Postoperative Outcomes Versus Opioid Analgesics: Propensity-Matched Study

In a propensity-matched retrospective cohort study of over 4,400 surgical patients, the use of the non-opioid analgesic suzetrigine was associated with significantly lower rates of emergency department utilization and postoperative psychiatric disorders—including depression, anxiety, PTSD, and sleep disturbances—compared to traditional opioid analgesics.

Verma, A. S., Sharma, V., Chowdhary, R. + 5 more2026-03-31📄 pain medicine

Working memory in chronic pain: evidence for task-specific rather than global differences

This preregistered study finds that chronic pain does not cause a global working memory deficit, but rather leads to task-specific performance differences—particularly in auditory-temporal processing—driven by increased response caution rather than reduced processing efficiency or sensory/motor slowing.

Halicka, M., Scheller, M., Brown, C. A.2026-03-25📄 pain medicine

Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields in Chronic Pain Management: a KDM6B-Mediated Modulation Mechanism Hypothesis

This study presents post-market surveillance data from 81 patients demonstrating that SynthéXer pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) therapy significantly reduces chronic pain, proposing a novel hypothesis that this efficacy is mediated by KDM6B-dependent epigenetic modulation of anti-inflammatory cytokines.

Sacco, C., Ferraro, A.2026-03-25📄 pain medicine

Structural and Functional Alterations of the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Across Chronic Pain Cohorts

This study demonstrates that reduced gray matter volume in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and its associated decreased functional connectivity with the right hippocampus are consistent structural and functional alterations across chronic pain cohorts, which are specifically linked to pain-related fear and activity avoidance rather than pain intensity.

Kawate, M., Takaoka, S., Shinohara, Y. + 7 more2026-03-25📄 pain medicine

Meta-analytic Evidence for Four Amplifier Loops in Chronic Pain Chronification: Development of the Pain Amplifier Loop Framework (PALF) Risk Score

This study synthesizes meta-analytic evidence from over 500,000 participants to quantify the impact of four biopsychosocial amplifier loops on chronic pain chronification and develops the Pain Amplifier Loop Framework (PALF) risk score as a clinically actionable tool for stratifying interventional treatment failure risk.

Arranz-Duran, J.2026-03-24📄 pain medicine

Subjective and Objective Cognitive Functioning in Chronic Pain: Distinct Associations with Multidimensional Symptom Burden and Resting-State EEG

This study reveals a dissociation in chronic pain patients where subjective cognitive complaints are strongly linked to psychosocial symptom burden and specific EEG beta-band connectivity, whereas objective cognitive performance remains largely independent of both broader symptomatology and brain activity measures.

Zebhauser, P. T., Bott, F. S., Baki, E. + 2 more2026-03-22📄 pain medicine

Ecological Momentary Assessments of daily pain experiences in bothersome and high-impact chronic pain

This study utilized Ecological Momentary Assessments to reveal that while individuals with high-impact chronic pain experience significantly greater daily interference with activities compared to those with bothersome chronic pain, many other day-to-day pain experiences, including intensity, mood, and catastrophizing, remain surprisingly similar between the two groups.

Walentynowicz, M., Junghaenel, D. U., Mackey, S. C. + 2 more2026-03-20📄 pain medicine

Identification of LPO and RTN4R as Proteomic Signatures of Pain Persistence: An Exploratory Analysis of the UK Biobank

This exploratory analysis of the UK Biobank identifies Lactoperoxidase (LPO) and Nogo Receptor (RTN4R) as dominant proteomic signatures driving pain persistence, demonstrating that specific molecular pathways related to secretory peroxidase activity and neural repair inhibition are more predictive of chronic pain than broad systemic factors like monocyte counts or testosterone levels.

Lehrer, S., Rheinstein, P.2026-03-19📄 pain medicine

Efficacy of tDCS and EEG Neurofeedback, individually and combined, on Neuropathic Pain following spinal cord injury: Protocol for a Randomised Controlled Trial

This protocol outlines a partially double-blinded, 2x2 factorial randomized controlled trial involving 192 adults with chronic spinal cord injury-related neuropathic pain to evaluate the individual and combined efficacy of home-based EEG neurofeedback and transcranial direct current stimulation over a 5-week period.

Chowdhury, N., Hesam Shariati, N., Quide, Y. + 13 more2026-03-18📄 pain medicine

Fatigue Links Sociodemographic Risk to Pain Intensity and Spread in Two Surgical Cohorts

In two pre-surgical cohorts, fatigue emerged as the most robust and consistent predictor of both pain intensity and widespread pain, serving as a central link among various psychosocial risk factors and explaining the relationship between surgical-site pain and pain at non-surgical sites.

Sun, M., Ansari, B., Clauw, D. + 7 more2026-03-11📄 pain medicine

Initiation of buprenorphine as part of pain management approach to trauma patients in the intensive care unit with a history of opioid use disorder: A QI Study

This quality improvement study demonstrates that initiating buprenorphine for trauma ICU patients with opioid use disorder is a safe strategy that does not compromise pain control or increase opioid requirements, while supporting long-term recovery continuity.

Khan, A., Rosario-Rivera, B. L., Shivanekar, S. P. + 3 more2026-03-09📄 pain medicine

Personalizing neuromodulation for chronic pain: A connectivity-guided randomized trial

In a randomized controlled trial of 90 patients with chronic pain, connectivity-guided target selection based on global cortical connectivity failed to improve rTMS outcomes compared to classic M1 stimulation, though lower local M1 connectivity was identified as a potential biomarker predicting better response to the classic approach.

De Martino, E., Bach, M. M., Couto, B. N. + 6 more2026-03-06📄 pain medicine

Exploring Electroencephalography for Chronic Pain Biomarkers: A Large-Scale Benchmark of Data- and Hypothesis-Driven Models

This large-scale benchmark study demonstrates that while resting-state EEG can robustly decode age, it fails to predict chronic pain intensity across individuals using various modeling strategies, suggesting its clinical utility lies in intra-individual pain dynamics rather than cross-sectional biomarker development.

Bott, F. S., Turgut, O., Zebhauser, P. T. + 9 more2026-03-06📄 pain medicine

Real-world Opioid-Sparring Effects of Infiltration between the Popliteal Artery and the Capsule of the Knee (IPACK) in Patients Undergoing Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

This single-center difference-in-differences cohort study investigates the real-world impact of implementing an ultrasound-guided IPACK nerve block on immediate postoperative opioid consumption and other recovery outcomes in patients undergoing anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction at Bispebjerg Hospital, Denmark, between February 2024 and June 2025.

Karlsen, A. P. H., Olsen, M. H., Barfod, K. W. + 4 more2026-03-02📄 pain medicine

Spinal Cord Stimulation for Persistent Spinal Pain Syndrome Type II: A Systematic Review and Subgroup Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

This systematic review and meta-analysis of nine randomized controlled trials indicates that spinal cord stimulation provides clinically meaningful pain relief for Persistent Spinal Pain Syndrome type II patients, with high-frequency stimulation demonstrating superior efficacy for back pain and burst stimulation showing advantages in reducing continuous pain intensity, though significant heterogeneity and a lack of head-to-head comparisons currently preclude definitive treatment guidelines.

Delbari, P., Pourahmad, R., Zare, A. h. + 4 more2026-02-26📄 pain medicine

Study protocol for microneurographic investigation of nociceptor sensitisation in Fibromyalgia Syndrome. (MICRO-FMS)

The MICRO-FMS study protocol outlines an adaptive Bayesian microneurography investigation designed to precisely determine the prevalence of abnormal C-fibre nociceptor activity in Fibromyalgia Syndrome while minimizing patient burden through early futility assessment and optimized data collection methods.

Ajay, E. A., Khan, F., Bhattacharjee, A. + 2 more2026-02-26📄 pain medicine

Peak alpha frequency is associated with pain severity in Long COVID patients with new-onset chronic pain

This study demonstrates that lower resting-state peak alpha frequency in the posterior scalp region is significantly associated with higher pain severity in patients with new-onset chronic pain following Long COVID, suggesting it as a potential biomarker and therapeutic target for EEG-based neuromodulation.

Silva-Passadouro, B., Khoja, O., Casson, A. J. + 3 more2026-02-17📄 pain medicine