Fibromyalgia: a clinical review Clauw, Daniel J
JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association,
04/2014, Letnik:
311, Številka:
15
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Fibromyalgia is present in as much as 2% to 8% of the population, is characterized by widespread pain, and is often accompanied by fatigue, memory problems, and sleep disturbances.
To review the ...epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of fibromyalgia.
The medical literature on fibromyalgia was reviewed from 1955 to March 2014 via MEDLINE and the Cochrane Central Registry of Controlled Trials, with an emphasis on meta-analyses and contemporary evidence-based treatment guidelines. Treatment recommendations are based on the most recent evidence-based guidelines from the Canadian Pain Society and graded from 1 to 5 based on the level of available evidence.
Numerous treatments are available for managing fibromyalgia that are supported by high-quality evidence. These include nonpharmacological therapies (education, exercise, cognitive behavioral therapy) and pharmacological therapies (tricyclics, serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, and gabapentinoids).
Fibromyalgia and other "centralized" pain states are much better understood now than ever before. Fibromyalgia may be considered as a discrete diagnosis or as a constellation of symptoms characterized by central nervous system pain amplification with concomitant fatigue, memory problems, and sleep and mood disturbances. Effective treatment for fibromyalgia is now possible.
Fibromyalgia is the currently preferred term for widespread musculoskeletal pain, typically accompanied by other symptoms such as fatigue, memory problems, and sleep and mood disturbances, for which ...no alternative cause can be identified. Earlier there was some doubt about whether there was an "organic basis" for these related conditions, but today there is irrefutable evidence from brain imaging and other techniques that this condition has strong biological underpinnings, even though psychological, social, and behavioral factors clearly play prominent roles in some patients. The pathophysiological hallmark is a sensitized or hyperactive central nervous system that leads to an increased volume control or gain on pain and sensory processing. This condition can occur in isolation, but more often it co-occurs with other conditions now being shown to have a similar underlying pathophysiology (eg, irritable bowel syndrome, interstitial cystitis, and tension headache) or as a comorbidity in individuals with diseases characterized by ongoing peripheral damage or inflammation (eg, autoimmune disorders and osteoarthritis). In the latter instance, the term centralized pain connotes the fact that in addition to the pain that might be caused by peripheral factors, there is superimposed pain augmentation occurring in the central nervous system. It is important to recognize this phenomenon (regardless of what term is used to describe it) because individuals with centralized pain do not respond nearly as well to treatments that work well for peripheral pain (surgery and opioids) and preferentially respond to centrally acting analgesics and nonpharmacological therapies.
Highlights • Fibromyalgia is associated with altered processing in the CNS with enhanced excitability and decreased inhibition. • Animal models mimicking fibromyalgia have discovered changes in the ...CNS from the spinal cord to the cortex. • Evidence that supports altered CNS processing in human subjects, and the translational data in animal models on mechanisms.
Nociplastic pain is the semantic term suggested by the international community of pain researchers to describe a third category of pain that is mechanistically distinct from nociceptive pain, which ...is caused by ongoing inflammation and damage of tissues, and neuropathic pain, which is caused by nerve damage. The mechanisms that underlie this type of pain are not entirely understood, but it is thought that augmented CNS pain and sensory processing and altered pain modulation play prominent roles. The symptoms observed in nociplastic pain include multifocal pain that is more widespread or intense, or both, than would be expected given the amount of identifiable tissue or nerve damage, as well as other CNS-derived symptoms, such as fatigue, sleep, memory, and mood problems. This type of pain can occur in isolation, as often occurs in conditions such as fibromyalgia or tension-type headache, or as part of a mixed-pain state in combination with ongoing nociceptive or neuropathic pain, as might occur in chronic low back pain. It is important to recognise this type of pain, since it will respond to different therapies than nociceptive pain, with a decreased responsiveness to peripherally directed therapies such as anti-inflammatory drugs and opioids, surgery, or injections.
Abstract Until recently, most clinicians considered chronic pain to be typically due to ongoing peripheral nociceptive input (i.e., damage or inflammation) in the region of the body where the ...individual is experiencing pain. Clinicians are generally aware of a few types of pain (e.g., headache and phantom limb pain) where chronic pain is not due to such causes, but most do not realize there is not a single chronic pain state where any radiographic, surgical, or pathological description of peripheral nociceptive damage has been reproducibly shown to be related to the presence or severity of pain. The primary reason for this appears to be that both the peripheral and central nervous systems play a critical role in determining which nociceptive input being detected by sensory nerves in the peripheral tissues will lead to the perception of pain in humans. This manuscript reviews some of the latest findings regarding the neural processing of pain, with a special focus on how clinicians can use information gleaned from the history and physical examination to assess which mechanisms are most likely to be responsible for pain in a given individual, and tailors therapy appropriately. A critical construct is that, within any specific diagnostic category (e.g., fibromyalgia (FM), osteoarthritis (OA), and chronic low back pain (CLBP) are specifically reviewed), individual patients may have markedly different peripheral/nociceptive and neural contributions to their pain. Thus, just as low back pain has long been acknowledged to have multiple potential mechanisms, so also is this true of all chronic pain states, wherein some individuals will have pain primarily due to peripheral nociceptive input, whereas in others peripheral (e.g., peripheral sensitization) or central nervous system factors (“central sensitization” or “centralization” of pain via augmented pain processing in spinal and brain) may be playing an equally or even more prominent role in their pain and other symptoms.
Abstract Objectives The provisional criteria of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 2010 and the 2011 self-report modification for survey and clinical research are widely used for fibromyalgia ...diagnosis. To determine the validity, usefulness, potential problems, and modifications required for the criteria, we assessed multiple research reports published in 2010–2016 in order to provide a 2016 update to the criteria. Methods We reviewed 14 validation studies that compared 2010/2011 criteria with ACR 1990 classification and clinical criteria, as well as epidemiology, clinical, and databank studies that addressed important criteria-level variables. Based on definitional differences between 1990 and 2010/2011 criteria, we interpreted 85% sensitivity and 90% specificity as excellent agreement. Results Against 1990 and clinical criteria, the median sensitivity and specificity of the 2010/2011 criteria were 86% and 90%, respectively. The 2010/2011 criteria led to misclassification when applied to regional pain syndromes, but when a modified widespread pain criterion (the “generalized pain criterion”) was added misclassification was eliminated. Based on the above data and clinic usage data, we developed a (2016) revision to the 2010/2011 fibromyalgia criteria. Fibromyalgia may now be diagnosed in adults when all of the following criteria are met: (1) Generalized pain, defined as pain in at least 4 of 5 regions, is present. (2) Symptoms have been present at a similar level for at least 3 months. (3) Widespread pain index (WPI) ≥ 7 and symptom severity scale (SSS) score ≥ 5 OR WPI of 4–6 and SSS score ≥ 9. (4) A diagnosis of fibromyalgia is valid irrespective of other diagnoses. A diagnosis of fibromyalgia does not exclude the presence of other clinically important illnesses. Conclusions The fibromyalgia criteria have good sensitivity and specificity. This revision combines physician and questionnaire criteria, minimizes misclassification of regional pain disorders, and eliminates the previously confusing recommendation regarding diagnostic exclusions. The physician-based criteria are valid for individual patient diagnosis. The self-report version of the criteria is not valid for clinical diagnosis in individual patients but is valid for research studies. These changes allow the criteria to function as diagnostic criteria, while still being useful for classification.
Fibromyalgia: An Overview Clauw, Daniel J., MD
The American journal of medicine,
12/2009, Letnik:
122, Številka:
12
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Abstract Fibromyalgia is the diagnosis given to individuals with chronic widespread musculoskeletal pain for which no alternative cause, such as tissue inflammation or damage, can be identified. ...Fibromyalgia is now believed to be, at least in part, a disorder of central pain processing that produces heightened responses to painful stimuli (hyperalgesia) and painful responses to nonpainful stimuli (allodynia). Aberrations in central pain processing may also be partly responsible for symptoms experienced in several chronic pain disorders that coaggregate with fibromyalgia, which is itself a product of genetic and environmental factors. Thus, aberrational central pain processing is implicated in irritable bowel syndrome, temporomandibular disorder, chronic low back pain, and certain other chronic pain disorders. Fibromyalgia and related disorders appear to reflect deficiencies in serotonergic and noradrenergic, but not opioidergic, transmission in the central nervous system. The heightened state of pain transmission may also be owing to increases in pronociceptive neurotransmitters such as glutamate and substance P. In some cases, psychological and behavioral factors are also in play. Although the overlapping symptomatology between fibromyalgia and related disorders may present diagnostic challenges, proper examination and observation can help clinicians make an accurate diagnosis. In recent years, the vastly improved understanding of the mechanism underlying fibromyalgia and the related spectrum of diseases has fostered rapid advances in the therapy of these chronic pain disorders by both pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic interventions.
Pain is a key component of most rheumatologic diseases. In fibromyalgia, the importance of central nervous system pain mechanisms (for example, loss of descending analgesic activity and central ...sensitization) is well documented. A few studies have also noted alterations in central pain processing in osteoarthritis, and some data, including the observation of widespread pain sensitivity, suggest that central pain-processing defects may alter the pain response in rheumatoid arthritis patients. When central pain is identified, different classes of analgesics (for example, serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, α2δ ligands) may be more effective than drugs that treat peripheral or nociceptive pain (for example, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and opioids).
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