OBJECTIVE Previous studies regarding the quantitative sensory testing are inconsistent in migraine. We hypothesized that the quantitative sensory testing results were influenced by headache frequency or migraine phase. METHODS This study recruited chronic and episodic migraine patients as well as healthy controls. Participants underwent quantitative sensory testing, including heat, cold, and mechanical punctate pain thresholds at the supraorbital area (V1 dermatome) and the forearm (T1 dermatome). Prospective headache diaries were used for headache frequency and migraine phase when quantitative sensory testing was performed. RESULTS Twenty-eight chronic migraine, 64 episodic migraine and 32 healthy controls completed the study. Significant higher mechanical punctate pain thresholds were found in episodic migraine but not chronic migraine when compared with healthy controls. The mechanical punctate pain thresholds decreased as headache frequency increased then nadired. In episodic migraine, mechanical punctate pain thresholds were highest (p < 0.05) in those in the interictal phase and declined when approaching the ictal phase in both V1 and T1 dermatomes. Linear regression analyses showed that in those with episodic migraine, headache frequency and phase were independently associated with mechanical punctate pain thresholds and accounted for 29.7% and 38.9% of the variance in V1 (p = 0.003) and T1 (p < 0.001) respectively. Of note, unlike mechanical punctate pain thresholds, our study did not demonstrate similar findings for heat pain thresholds and cold pain thresholds in migraine. CONCLUSION Our study provides new insights into the dynamic changes of quantitative sensory testing, especially mechanical punctate pain thresholds in patients with migraine. Mechanical punctate pain thresholds vary depending on headache frequency and migraine phase, providing an explanation for the inconsistency across studies.

中文翻译：

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机械点状痛阈与偏头痛患者的头痛频率和时相相关。

目的 先前关于定量感官测试的研究在偏头痛中不一致。我们假设定量感官测试结果受头痛频率或偏头痛阶段的影响。方法 本研究招募了慢性和偶发性偏头痛患者以及健康对照。参与者接受了定量的感官测试，包括眶上区（V1 皮节）和前臂（T1 皮节）的热、冷和机械点状痛阈。在进行定量感官测试时，前瞻性头痛日记用于头痛频率和偏头痛阶段。结果 28 名慢性偏头痛、64 名发作性偏头痛和 32 名健康对照完成了研究。与健康对照相比，在发作性偏头痛中发现显着更高的机械点状痛阈值，但在慢性偏头痛中没有发现。机械点状疼痛阈值随着头痛频率的增加而降低，然后达到最低点。在发作性偏头痛中，发作间期的机械点状痛阈值最高（p < 0.05），而在 V1 和 T1 皮节接近发作期时则下降。线性回归分析显示，在发作性偏头痛患者中，头痛频率和时相与机械点状痛阈独立相关，分别占 V1 (p = 0.003) 和 T1 (p < 0.001) 方差的 29.7% 和 38.9%。值得注意的是，与机械点状痛阈不同，我们的研究没有证明偏头痛的热痛阈值和冷痛阈值有相似的发现。结论我们的研究为定量感觉测试的动态变化提供了新的见解，尤其是偏头痛患者的机械点状痛阈。机械点状疼痛阈值因头痛频率和偏头痛阶段而异，这为研究之间的不一致提供了解释。