The effect of acute pain on executive function.

BACKGROUND AND AIM

Executive functions are high-level cognitive processes that allow a person to success-fully engage in an independent and self-fulfilling life. Previous literature indicates that chronic pain can affect executive function, but there are limited studies that investigate the effect of acute pain on executive function. The purpose of this study was to determine if acute pain affects executive function in recreationally active indi-viduals who sustained a musculoskeletal injury.

METHODS

Twenty-four recreationally active participants who presented with acute pain following a muscu-loskeletal injury underwent a neuropsychological battery within 72 hours of injury. Follow up testing occurred within two weeks from the initial testing session when participants were pain free. Pain intensity was measured using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). The neuropsychological battery consisted of the following tests: Digit Span (DS), Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT), and Trail Making Test B (TMT-B). The DS was bro-ken into two separate scores, the RAVLT four scores, and TMT-B one score. Seven paired samples t-tests were conducted using an adjusted alpha level of 0.007.

RESULTS

Participants had significantly improved scores when pain free in DS forwards ( < 0.007) and TMT-B ( < 0.007). No significant difference was observed for the DS backward ( = 0.023), RAVLT A1 ( = 0.563), RAVLT sum A1 to A5 ( = 0.953), RAVLT A6 ( = 1.0), RAVLT recognition list A ( = 0.009). These results suggest that immediate recall and complex attention may be diminished in individ-uals who experience acute pain due to a musculoskeletal injury.

CONCLUSIONS

Results from this study suggest acute pain from musculoskeletal injuries may disrupt executive function.

RELEVANCE FOR PATIENTS

Patients should be aware that there may be cognitive changes after a musculoskeletal injury. Knowing which cognitive domains may be impaired during acute pain could impact clinical practice and further benefit patients suffering from pain and its associated symptoms.