Amplified Pain Syndrome—An Insupportable Assumption

Supporting the Imperfect Use of Amplified Pain Syndrome—Reply

“…However, as clinicians, we must always ensure that the names we offer to them have a rational scientific basis. As we have argued in our Viewpoint, we do not find this to be the case with APS.…”

Supporting the Imperfect Use of Amplified Pain Syndrome

“…The prospect of learning more about this diagnosis may afford them hope. While we agree that APS has the potential to cause societal stigmatization and self-stigmatization, and perhaps should be stricken from our lexicon for the reasons Weisman and et al describe, it is not the only diagnostic label that can cause stigma. Other diagnoses, such as medically unexplained physical symptoms or somatic symptoms and related disorders may be similarly stigmatizing or even more so.…”

“…To the Editor Stigma in children with chronic pain is important because of its potential impact on health outcomes for patients and their families . We applaud the focus on stigma in the article by Weisman and colleagues but would like to share alternative views on the clinical use of the term amplified pain syndrome (APS). We agree that diagnostic labels can cause stigma, but even more problematic is how the diagnostic impression is communicated to patients and families.…”

A Manifesto in Defense of Pain Complexity: A Critical Review of Essential Insights in Pain Neuroscience

“…This sweeping categorization includes non-specific headaches, generalized musculoskeletal pain, and various types of abdominal discomfort, among others. All of these conditions exhibit a hypothetic unifying feature: central sensitization [108]. These challenges reemerge due to persistent epistemological confusion, where the purported hypersensitivity integral to central sensitization is not directly attributed to pain itself.…”

“…Despite the latter, these pathophysiological scenarios continue to be perceived as manifestations of central sensitization, thereby inducing hypersensitivity. This leads us to a circular argument: "The primary pathophysiological feature is a sensitized central nervous system that results in an enhancement in the processing of pain and sensory stimuli" [107,108]. Upon close scrutiny, it seems that the pain is ascribed to sensitization that heightens hyperexcitability, consequently intensifying pain-an argument that paradoxically uses itself to explain its premise [108].…”