Influence of specific rehabilitation programs on pressure pain thresholds in patients with fibromyalgia or chronic low back pain

Background: Specific rehabilitation programs are recommended in chronic pain syndromes. The subjective experience and multidimensional nature of pain is problematic for assessment. Pressure pain threshold (PPT) is defined as the minimum force applied which induces pain measured with a dolorimeter. Objectives: The purposes were: (1) to compare PPTs for 18 specific tender sites in patients with fibromyalgia (FM) and in patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP), (2) to assess the PPT changes in these groups following specific rehabilitation programs. Methods: Eleven women with CLBP and six women with FM were included in this study. They attended biweekly specific multidisciplinary rehabilitation sessions for 8 weeks. Pain intensity and PPTs for the 18 specific tender sites defined by the American College of Rheumatology were evaluated respectively with a visual analogue scale (VAS) and with an electronic dolorimeter, before and after the programs. Normative data of PPTs were established in a recent study [1]. Results: Before starting the rehabilitation program, patients with FM displayed VAS scores higher (p<0.05) than those with CLBP. Furthermore, FM patients had the lowest (p