Do dichotomizing afferent fibers exist which supply visceral organs as well as somatic structures? A contribution to the problem of referred pain

Bahr, R.; Blumberg, H.; Jänig, Wilfrid

doi:10.1016/0304-3940(81)90353-0

Cited by 126 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 2 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Experiments in which different markers were applied to two peripheral nerves showed that also the peripheral axons of DRG cells may branch: some somata contained both marker substances Laurberg and S6rensen 1985). The results of neurophysiological experiments led to the same conclusion, namely that a certain but ill-defined proportion of DRG cells possess branched axons (Bahr et al 1981;Pierau et al 1982;Devor et al 1984).…”

Section: Dorsal Root Ganglion (Drg) Cellssupporting

confidence: 58%

“…Whether or not axons of primary afferent neurones branch in the peripheral nerve or the dorsal root (in addition to the branches at the receptor site and the spinal termination) is not only of theoretical interest. The question has important clinical implications, since branched axons have been and still are discussed as a possible anatomical explanation for referred pain (Sinclair et al 1948;Bahr et al 1981).…”

Section: Dorsal Root Ganglion (Drg) Cellsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Structure-function relationships in identified afferent neurones

Mense

1990

Anat Embryol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The review deals with structure-function relationships in primary afferent and spinal cord neurones that were intracellularly injected with a marker substance (mostly HRP) after physiological identification. At the level of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) cells, there is a significant correlation between soma size and conduction velocity (or diameter) of the afferent fibre for most subpopulations of DRG cells, but the scatter of data is considerable, so that the size of a DRG cell soma cannot be predicted from the diameter of its axon or vice versa. The spinal terminations of primary afferent fibres are the best example of a relationship between structure and function, since most of the afferent units possess characteristic patterns of spinal arborization, e.g. the "flame-shaped arbors" of hair follicle afferents in lamina III of the dorsal horn, or the projection of nociceptive afferents onto lamina I. The morphological features of spinal cord neurones can be used only to a limited extent for functional identification. Thus, many SCT neurones can be recognized by their triangular dendritic tree and STT cells in lamina VII/VIII by their dendritic projection into the white matter. It is still not possible, however, to distinguish a nociceptive STT cell from a low-threshold mechanoreceptive one on the basis of morphological criteria.

show abstract

Section: Dorsal Root Ganglion (Drg) Cellssupporting

confidence: 58%

Section: Dorsal Root Ganglion (Drg) Cellsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structure-function relationships in identified afferent neurones

Mense

1990

Anat Embryol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This indicates clearly that peripheral axonal processes of the cells innervate both somatic and visceral target tissues and is evidence for a prespinal somatovisceral convergence in Xenopus. This type of DRG cell having dichotomizing peripheral axonal processes has also been demonstrated in the cat and rat by fluorescent tracer studies (Pierau et al, 1984;Dawson et al, 1992) and electrophysiological experiments (Bahr et al, 1981;Pierau et al, 1982).…”

Section: Intraganglionic Distribution and Double Labeling Of Drg Cellsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Central projections of thoracic splanchnic and somatic nerves and the location of sympathetic preganglionic neurons in Xenopus laevis

Nakano

Kishida

Funakoshi

et al. 2003

J of Comparative Neurology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The central and peripheral organization of thoracic visceral and somatic nervous elements was studied by applying dextran amines to the proximal cut ends of the thoracic splanchnic and somatic nerves in Xenopus laevis. Many labeled dorsal root ganglion cells of visceral afferents, and all somatic afferents, were located in a single ganglion of one spinal segment, and the two types of cells were distributed topographically within the ganglion. The labeled sympathetic preganglionic neurons were located predominantly in the same area of the thoracic spinal gray as in other frogs and in mammals. The labeled visceral afferents projected to Lissauer's tract and the dorsal funiculus. The visceral fibers of the tract ascended to the level of the subcerebellar area, supplying collateral branches to the lateral one-third of the dorsal horn and to the area of brainstem nuclei, including lateral cervical and descending trigeminal nucleus, and descended to the filum terminale. The visceral fibers of the dorsal funiculus were distributed to the dorsal column nucleus and the solitary tract. A similar longitudinal projection was also seen in the somatic afferents. The dual central pathway of thoracic primary afferents in the anuran spinal cord is a property held in common with mammals, but the widespread rostrocaudal projection through Lissauer's tract may be a characteristic of the anuran central nervous system. In frogs, the direct transmission of primary afferent information to an extremely wide area of the central nervous system may be important for prompt assessment of environmental factors and control of body functions.

show abstract

“…However, the best possible mechanism that may explain the referred pain is convergence and facilitation. Convergence, or wind-up, is a phenomenon that results from amplification and wind-up of dorsal horn neurons leading to spreading to adjacent segments [43,44]. This leads to persistent pain due to sensitization in the dorsal horn and increased sensitivity and excitability of neurons [45][46][47][48][49].…”

Section: Pathophysiologymentioning

confidence: 98%

Effect of Treatment on Trigger Points

Majlesi

Ünalan

2010

Curr Pain Headache Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Patients with muscle pain complaints commonly are seen by clinicians treating pain, especially pain of musculoskeletal origin. Myofascial trigger points merit special attention because its diagnosis requires examinations skills and its treatment requires specific techniques. If undiagnosed, the patients tend to be overinvestigated and undertreated, leading to chronic pain syndrome. Patients with myofascial pain syndrome present primarily with painful muscle(s) and restricted range of motion of the relevant joint. Palpable painful taut bands are named trigger points and are the main and pathognomonic finding on physical examination. Eliciting local twitch response and referred pain requires experience and examination skills. It may be useful to classify the patient as having acute or chronic, and as having primary or secondary, myofascial pain so the decision on the details of treatment can be curtailed to the needs of each patient. Effective treatment modalities are local heat and cold, stretching exercises, spray-and-stretch, needling, local injection, and high-power pain threshold ultrasound.

show abstract

Do dichotomizing afferent fibers exist which supply visceral organs as well as somatic structures? A contribution to the problem of referred pain

Cited by 126 publications

References 2 publications

Structure-function relationships in identified afferent neurones

Structure-function relationships in identified afferent neurones

Central projections of thoracic splanchnic and somatic nerves and the location of sympathetic preganglionic neurons in Xenopus laevis

Effect of Treatment on Trigger Points

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About