Pain rather than induced emotions and ICU sound increases skin conductance variability in healthy volunteers

• BackgroundAssessing pain in critically ill patients is difficult. Skin conductance variability (SCV), induced by the sympathetic response to pain, has been suggested as a method to identify pain in poorly communicating patients. However, SCV, a derivate of conventional skin conductance, could potentially also be sensitive to emotional stress. The purpose of the study was to investigate if pain and emotional stress can be distinguished with SCV. MethodsIn a series of twelve 1-min sessions with SCV recording, 18 healthy volunteers were exposed to standardized electric pain stimulation during blocks of positive, negative, or neutral emotion, induced with pictures from the International Affective PictureSystem (IAPS). Additionally, authentic intensive care unit (ICU) sound was included in half of the sessions. All possible combinations of pain and sound occurred in each block of emotion, and blocks were presented in randomized order. ResultsPain stimulation resulted in increases in the number of skin conductance fluctuations (NSCF) in all but one participant. During pain-free baseline sessions, the median NSCF was 0.068 (interquartile range 0.013-0.089) and during pain stimulation median NSCF increased to 0.225 (interquartile range 0.146-0.3175). Only small increases in NSCF were found during negative emotions. Pain, assessed with the numeric rating scale, during the sessions with pain stimulation was not altered significantly by other ongoing sensory input. ConclusionIn healthy volunteers, NSCF appears to reflect ongoing autonomous reactions mainly to pain and to a lesser extent, reactions to emotion induced with IAPS pictures or ICU sound.

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Anestesi och intensivvård (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Anesthesiology and Intensive Care (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Intensive-Care-Unit

Postoperative Pain

Scale

Responses

Stimuli

Tool

Validation

Anesthesia

Management

Agitation

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)