The Golden Anniversary of Melzack and Wall’S Gate Control Theory of Pain: Celebrating 50 Years of Pain Research and Management

Joel Katz,Brittany N Rosenbloom

doi:10.1155/2015/865487

Abstract

November 2015 marks the 50th anniversary of the 1965 Science publication “Pain Mechanisms: A New Theory” by Ronald Melzack and Patrick D Wall (1), in which the authors introduced the gate control theory of pain that has since revolutionized our understanding of pain mechanisms and management. The brilliance, creativity and critical thought that went into the formulation and explication of the gate control theory of pain can best be appreciated by reading the original article. Fifty years later, having become part of our scientific history and accepted as common knowledge, the essence of the theory is often conveyed by the familiar diagram in Figure 1. In 1982, the article was recognized as a Citation Classic in Eugene Garfield’s weekly publication Current

Highlights

November 2015 marks the 50th anniversary of the 1965 Science publication “Pain Mechanisms: A New Theory” by Ronald Melzack and Patrick D Wall [1], in which the authors introduced the gate control theory of pain that has since revolutionized our understanding of pain mechanisms and management
Citation Classic commentaries were introduced by Garfield to provide the scientific community with “a kind of living history” illustrating the “human side of science” [2]
As we approach the 50th anniversary of its publication, the article’s citation rate has continued to climb, reaching an all-time yearly high of 525 or 195 for a cumulative citation count as of 2014 of >8800 (Google Scholar) or >4500 (ISI Web of Science) (Figure 3)

Summary

Introduction

November 2015 marks the 50th anniversary of the 1965 Science publication “Pain Mechanisms: A New Theory” by Ronald Melzack and Patrick D Wall [1], in which the authors introduced the gate control theory of pain that has since revolutionized our understanding of pain mechanisms and management. The Citation Classic commentary by Melzack and Wall [3] was a one-page synopsis that included an abstract describing the gate control theory and the authors’ reflections on the article’s importance and popularity, its ongoing scientific relevance (17 years after publication) and the transformation in treatment it brought about.

Results

Conclusion