PainVision Apparatus Is Effective for Assessing Low Back Pain

STUDY DESIGN: Case series. PURPOSE: To determine the utility of "PainVision" apparatus for the assessment of low back pain. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: A newly developed device, the PainVision PS-2100 (Nipro, Osaka, Japan), has been used to assess the perception of pain in a quantitative manner. In the current study, we aimed to evaluate the efficacy of PainVision for the assessment of low back pain. METHODS: We assessed 89 patients with low back pain. The numeric rating scale (NRS) score, McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) score and the degree of pain calculated by PainVision were measured twice at 4-week intervals in each patient. An electrode was patched on the forearm surface of the patients and the degree of pain was automatically calculated (degree of pain=100×[current producing pain comparable with low back pain-current at perception threshold/current at perception threshold]). Correlations between NRS and MPQ scores and the degree of pain were determined using Spearman's rank correlation test. RESULTS: There was a strong correlation between the NRS and MPQ scores at each time point (r(s)=0.60, p<0.0001). The degree of pain also showed a moderate correlation with NRS and MPQ scores at each time point (r(s)=0.40, p<0.03). The change in the degree of pain over 4 weeks showed a moderate correlation with changes in the NRS and MPQ scores (r(s)=0.40, p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: PainVision as self-reported questionnaires is a useful tool to assess low back pain.