title: Somatosensory abnormalities in Chinese patients with painful temporomandibular disorders.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The somatosensory phenotype of Chinese temporomandibular disorders (TMD) patients is not sufficiently studied with the use of contemporary techniques and guidelines.
  
  
  METHODS
  A standardized quantitative sensory testing (QST) battery consisting of 13 parameters with a stringent statistical protocol developed by the German Research Network on Neuropathic Pain was performed over the most painful and corresponding contralateral sites as well as the right hand of 40 Chinese patients with TMD and pain classified according to the Diagnostic Criteria for TMD (DC/TMD). The same QST protocol was performed bilaterally over the infraorbital, mental, and hand regions of 70 age- and gender-stratified healthy Chinese controls. Z-scores and loss/gain scores were computed for each TMD patient.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For patients, 82.5 % had somatosensory abnormalities in the painful facial region, while 60.0 % had abnormalities confined to the right hand. The most frequent abnormalities were somatosensory gain to pinprick (35.0 %) and pressure (35.0 %) stimuli, somatosensory loss to pinprick (25.0 %), cold (22.5 %), and heat (15.0 %) nociceptive stimuli. The most frequent loss/gain score was L0G2 (no somatosensory loss combined with a gain of mechanical somatosensory function) for both the facial (40.0 %) and hand (27.5 %) regions. Involving side-to-side differences in the evaluation increased the diagnostic sensitivity by 2.5-25.0 % across different parameters.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Somatosensory abnormalities were commonly detected in Chinese TMD pain patients both within and outside the primary painful region, strongly indicating disturbances in the central processing of somatosensory stimuli. The individual variations in somatosensory abnormalities indicate a possible need for development of individualized TMD pain management.
authors.affiliation: Department of Prosthodontics and Center for Oral Functional Diagnosis, Treatment and Research, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Zhongguancun Nandajie 22, 100081, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Guangju
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Section of Orofacial Pain and Jaw Function, Department of Dentistry, Aarhus University, Scandinavian Center for Orofacial Neurosciences (SCON), Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Lene
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Baad-Hansen
authors.affiliation: Center for Sensory-Motor Interaction (SMI), Department of Health Science and Technology, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark.
authors.forename: Kelun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Center for Temporomandibular Disorders and Orofacial Pain, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Kaiyuan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Department of Prosthodontics and Center for Oral Functional Diagnosis, Treatment and Research, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Zhongguancun Nandajie 22, 100081, Beijing, China. xieqiuf@163.com.
authors.forename: Qiu-Fei
authors.initials: QF
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Section of Orofacial Pain and Jaw Function, Department of Dentistry, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.|Department of Dental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Scandinavian Center for Orofacial Neurosciences (SCON), Hudding, Sweden.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Svensson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009437:Neuralgia / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods; D017288:Pain Threshold / Q000502:physiology; D010812:Physical Stimulation; D012678:Sensation Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013705:Temporomandibular Joint Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Orofacial pain; Quantitative sensory testing; Somatosensory abnormality; Temporomandibular disorders