Response of respiratory system to noxious stimuli and correlation between respiratory parameters and pain sensitivity parameters

Abstract

Background: Pain is multidimensional feeling that varies among individual patients. Pain is the main reason for visiting hospital. Pain is necessary for healthy survival of animal. People with lose of pain sensitivity have reduced life expectancy. Aims and Objectives: The objective of our study is to find any correlation between two respiratory parameters and three pain parameters among medical students. Second is to determine gender difference between pain sensitivity parameters and respiratory system response to experimental pain. Materials and Methods: In this study, a total of 100 medical students (male 57 and female 43) were participated. The cold pressor test was used to give pain as noxious stimuli. Respiratory parameters (respiratory rate and vital capacity) and pain sensitivity parameters (pain rating using visual analog scale, pain tolerance, and pain threshold) were measured. Results: Respiratory reactivity in response to experimental pain applied by cold pressor test in both sexes was not found significant in this study. Second, we found no remarkable correlation between respiratory system and pain sensitivity in both sexes. Conclusion: Respiratory system stimulates in response to pain because of both sympathetic and parasympathetic neural activity. There is no correlation between respiratory and pain sensitivity.