Chronic pain in individuals with previously undiagnosed autistic spectrum disorders

Bursch, Brenda; Ingman, Kathleen; Vitti, Lisa; Hyman, Paul E.; Zeltzer, Lonnie K.

doi:10.1016/j.jpain.2004.04.004

Cited by 34 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Pain experts might be underrecognising signs and symptoms of ASD in their patients, a notion which led Bursch et al [33] to explore this in two patients (Tony and Gregg) who displayed signs and symptoms indicative of possible ASD. Tony's mother reported a possible sensory disturbance in early childhood in that he liked to belt his trousers extremely tightly, which most children would have found painful, but Tony liked the sensation.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The remaining four case studies do not indicate level of functioning [32, 33, 56, 58]. Of the ten experimental studies, two studies include high functioning individuals with ASD [72, 74].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…All five case studies described individuals with ASD who were exhibiting pain insensitivity [17, 32, 33, 56, 58]. The two cases presented by Bursch et al [33] demonstrate how chronic pain can be the focal symptom and perseverative focus of attention for individuals with an ASD. Once focused on pain, difficulties in shifting attentional focus can serve to increase pain and associated distress.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Accurate pain assessment, in order to provide appropriate and timely care, can be a challenging task especially in children with ASD [31]. However, pain assessment strategies for children with ASD are poorly understood [32] and relatively little is written about the relationship between pain and ASD in the pain literature [33]. Due to communication and assessment difficulties, there is a greater likelihood that their pain may go unrecognised and untreated (e.g., [34, 35]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Pain Sensitivity and Observer Perception of Pain in Individuals with Autistic Spectrum Disorder

Allely

2013

The Scientific World Journal

112

117

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The peer-reviewed literature investigating the relationship between pain expression and perception of pain in individuals with ASD is sparse. The aim of the present systematic PRIMSA review was twofold: first, to see what evidence there is for the widely held belief that individuals with ASD are insensitive to pain or have a high pain threshold in the peer-reviewed literature and, second, to examine whether individuals with ASD react or express pain differently. Fifteen studies investigating pain in individuals with ASD were identified. The case studies all reported pain insensitivity in individuals with ASD. However, the majority of the ten experimental studies reviewed indicate that the idea that individuals with ASD are pain insensitive needs to be challenged. The findings also highlight the strong possibility that not all children with ASD express their physical discomfort in the same way as a neurotypical child would (i.e., cry, moan, seek comfort, etc.) which may lead caregivers and the medical profession to interpret this as pain insensitivity or incorrectly lead them to believe that the child is in no pain. These results have important implications for the assessment and management of pain in children with ASD.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The remaining four case studies do not indicate level of functioning [32, 33, 56, 58]. Of the ten experimental studies, two studies include high functioning individuals with ASD [72, 74].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Pain Sensitivity and Observer Perception of Pain in Individuals with Autistic Spectrum Disorder

Allely

2013

The Scientific World Journal

112

117

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“…The most widely discussed cases are of a girl, 'Sally', who would play in the snow without clothes on (Gillberg and Coleman, 2000;Wing, 1976Wing, , 1996 or of a boy who placed his hand on the stove and was only alerted to this by the smell of burning flesh (Gillberg and Coleman, 2000). More recently, Bursch et al (2004) reported two contradictory cases of pain in individuals with ASD. 'Tony' was reported as having longterm headaches and abdominal pain.…”

Section: Autismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acute pain experience in individuals with autism spectrum disorders: A review

Moore

2014

Autism

102

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In addition to the diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder, a number of clinically important comorbid complaints, including sensory abnormalities, are also discussed. One difference often noted in these accounts is hyposensitivity to pain; however, evidence for this is limited. The purpose of the current review therefore was to examine sensitivity to pain of individuals with autism spectrum disorder. This review is interested in reports which consider differences in subjective experience of pain (i.e. different pain thresholds) and differences in behavioural response to pain (i.e. signs of pain-related distress). Studies were included if they were conducted with human subjects, included a clearly diagnosed autism spectrum disorder population and reported data pertaining to pain experience relative to the neurotypical population. Studies were classified as being self/parent report, clinical observations, observations of response to medical procedures or experimental examination of pain. Both self/parent report and clinical observations appeared to report hyposensitivity to pain, whereas observations of medical procedures and experimental manipulation suggested normal or hypersensitive responses to pain. This review suggests that contrary to classical reports, individuals with autism spectrum disorder do not appear to have systematically altered pain responses or thresholds. More systematic experimental examination of this area is needed to understand responses to pain of individuals with autism spectrum disorder.

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Somatoform Disorders and Chronic Pain

Drews

Bursch

2010

Handbook of Clinical Psychology Competencies

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Chronic pain in individuals with previously undiagnosed autistic spectrum disorders

Cited by 34 publications

References 18 publications

Pain Sensitivity and Observer Perception of Pain in Individuals with Autistic Spectrum Disorder

Pain Sensitivity and Observer Perception of Pain in Individuals with Autistic Spectrum Disorder

Acute pain experience in individuals with autism spectrum disorders: A review

Somatoform Disorders and Chronic Pain

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