Referred pain is associated with greater odontogenic spontaneous pain and a heightened pain sensitivity in patients with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis

Abstract

Background: Symptomatic irreversible pulpitis often results in heightened reactions to thermal stimuli such as pain evoked by a cold stimulus, and spontaneous odontogenic pain (unprovoked pain). Objective: This study primarily compared the clinical manifestations of odontogenic spontaneous pain and pain provoked by cold stimulus specifically focusing on their sensory discriminative characteristics (intensity, duration and quality) between symptomatic irreversible pulpitis patients with and without referred pain. Methods: Twenty-three patients with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis with referred pain and 12 patients without referred pain were included in this cross-sectional study. The following outcomes were assessed: odontogenic spontaneous pain and its descriptors; pain evoked by cold stimulus and qualitative sensory testing before and after local anaesthesia; referred pain location; use of analgesic medication; complementary anaesthesia efficacy. T-test, chi-squared and McNemar tests were applied to the data (p