The level of pain sensitivity in people with different body weight: does it have an impact on surgical operations?

Abstract

The aim: to determine the level of pain sensitivity in people with different body weight using our own improved algometer.

Materials and methods. The study involved 227 healthy people (110 men and 117 women) aged 19 to 78 years. The Group I consisted of 101 people with a body mass index (BMI) from 18.5 to <25.0. The Group II included 91 people with overweight and grade 1 obesity (BMI 25.0 to 35.0). The Group III included 36 patients with grade 2 (35.0 to <40.0) and grade 3 obesity (>40.0). The level of pain sensitivity was measured using a special original device.

Results. People in the Group I did not feel pain when pressing on the needle with a force of 13.3±2.6 g, the Group II - with a force of 20.5±4.0 g, and participants from the Group III - 29.8±8.2 g. The feeling of moderate pain was observed at the level of 36.6±3.4 g in the Group I, at the level of 51.7±4.0 g and 59.0±8.9 g in the Groups II and III, respectively. The severe pain in the Group I was recorded at 64.1±5.7 g; in the Group II - at 89.8±6.7 g; and in the Group III - at 101.3±13.0 g.

Conclusions. With increasing body weight and obesity, the threshold of pain sensitivity increases, i.e., with increasing obesity, people are more resistant to mechanical pain stimulation. Obese people are 1.5-2 times more resistant to mild, moderate, and severe mechanical stimulation than people with normal body weight. Reduced pain sensation in obese people may be one of the reasons for the masked development of purulent inflammatory processes of soft tissues, acute inflammatory, oncological, and destructive processes of internal organs.

The study was performed in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. The study protocol was approved by the Local Ethics Committee of the university. The informed consent was obtained from the patients.