Pain neuroscience education in persistent painful tendinopathies: A scoping review from the Tendon PNE Network

Adrian Escriche-Escuder; Jo Nijs; Karin G Silbernagel; C Paul van Wilgen; Melanie L Plinsinga; José Casaña; Antonio I Cuesta-Vargas

doi:10.1016/j.ptsp.2023.07.002

Pain neuroscience education in persistent painful tendinopathies: A scoping review from the Tendon PNE Network

Phys Ther Sport. 2023 Sep:63:38-49. doi: 10.1016/j.ptsp.2023.07.002. Epub 2023 Jul 21.

Authors

Adrian Escriche-Escuder¹, Jo Nijs², Karin G Silbernagel³, C Paul van Wilgen⁴, Melanie L Plinsinga⁵, José Casaña⁶, Antonio I Cuesta-Vargas⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physiotherapy, University of Malaga, Malaga, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Málaga (IBIMA), Malaga, Spain.
² Pain in Motion Research Group (PAIN), Department of Physiotherapy, Human Physiology and Anatomy, Faculty of Physical Education & Physiotherapy, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium; Chronic Pain Rehabilitation, Department of Physical Medicine and Physiotherapy, University Hospital Brussels, Belgium; Department of Health and Rehabilitation, Unit of Physiotherapy, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
³ Department of Physical Therapy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
⁴ Pain in Motion Research Group (PAIN), Department of Physiotherapy, Human Physiology and Anatomy, Faculty of Physical Education & Physiotherapy, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium; Transcare Transdisciplinary Pain Management Center, Groningen, the Netherlands.
⁵ Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia.
⁶ Exercise Intervention for Health Research Group (EXINH-RG), Department of Physiotherapy, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
⁷ Department of Physiotherapy, University of Malaga, Malaga, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Málaga (IBIMA), Malaga, Spain; School of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Electronic address: acuesta@uma.es.

PMID: 37499463
DOI: 10.1016/j.ptsp.2023.07.002

Abstract

Objective: to conduct and report a scoping review of the available evidence of the effects and content of pain neuroscience education for patients with persistent painful tendinopathies.

Methods: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL, SPORTDiscus, and grey literature databases were searched from database inception to May 2022. Randomised and non-randomised controlled trials, non-controlled clinical trials, cohort studies, case series, case studies including people with persistent painful tendinopathy aged ≥18 years, a pain education intervention, and in English were included. Studies were excluded if they were cross-sectional studies, reviews, editorials, abstracts, or full-text not available or if included heterogeneous study cohorts, patients with tendon rupture, or patients with systemic diseases.

Results: five studies (n = 164) were included. Pain neuroscience education entailed face-to-face discussion sessions or educational materials including videos, brochures, paper drawings, and review questions. All studies used pain neuroscience education in conjunction with other interventions, obtaining significant benefits in outcomes related to pain, physical performance, or self-reported function, among others.

Conclusions: The application of pain neuroscience education in conjunction with other interventions seemed to improve several outcomes. However, considering the current knowledge about tendon pain and the scarcity of well-designed trials studying pain neuroscience education in tendinopathy, additional research is needed.

Keywords: Education; Pain; Physiotherapy; Tendinopathy.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Humans
Pain
Tendinopathy* / therapy
Tendon Injuries*
Tendons