Pain in Guillain-Barre syndrome

A. H. Ropper and B. T. Shahani

The clinical features of pain were prospectively analyzed in 29 consecutive patients with Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS). Sixteen (55%) had characteristic pain early in the illness described as similar to the muscular discomfort following exercise ("charley horse"). Pain preceded weakness by one to five days in four patients. The anterior and posterior aspects of the thighs, the buttocks, and the low part of the back were most frequently affected. Pain was frequently worse at night. Specific clinical signs or electrophysiologic abnormalities were not associated with pain, but serum creatine kinase level was elevated in ten of 13 patients with pain and only one of eight without pain. A review of previously reported pathologic material in five patients with GBS failed to disclose a relation between inflammation of dorsal root ganglia and pain. These results suggest that alterations in muscle related to neurogenic changes may cause the typical pain of GBS.

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Management of children with Guillain-Barre syndrome
Agrawal et al.
EDUCATION AND PRACTICE 2007;92:161-168.
FULL TEXT  

Severe interscapular pain and increased creatine kinase activity: the answer was in the ankles
Gonzalez-Alegre
Emerg. Med. J. 2005;22:152-153.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Cutaneous innervation in Guillain-Barre syndrome: pathology and clinical correlations
Pan et al.
Brain 2003;126:386-397.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Gabapentin for the Treatment of Pain in Guillain-Barre Syndrome: A Double-Blinded, Placebo-Controlled, Crossover Study
Pandey et al.
Anesth. Analg. 2002;95:1719-1723.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Pseudomeningoencephalitic Presentation of Pediatric Guillain-Barre Syndrome
Bradshaw and Jones
J Child Neurol 2001;16:505-508.
ABSTRACT  

Pain in Pediatric Guillain-Barre Syndrome: Case Report
Wong et al.
J Child Neurol 1998;13:184-185.
 

Gangliosides and the Guillain-Barre syndrome
Landi et al.
BMJ 1994;308:1638-1638.
FULL TEXT