A prediction model for differentiating chronic pain patients and healthy subjects based on withdrawal reflex EMG signals

The nociceptive withdrawal reflex (NWR) has been proven to be a valuable tool in the objective assessment of spinal cord hyperexcitability that is present in chronic pain disorders. However, most of the studies on objective assessment of central sensitisation focus on population differences between patients and healthy individuals and do not provide tools for individual assessment. In this study, a method was developed to objectively assess pain hyperexcitability in individuals using the NWR. Results showed high rate of correct assessment with up to ~80% when differentiating between healthy volunteers and chronic pain patients.