Study on validity of thermal detection thresholds as an examination for evaluating vibration-induced neurophthy

热阈值以及疼痛阈值预期反映A δ有髓纤维和C无髓纤维的功能，而振动触觉阈值被认为反映A β有髓纤维的功能。因此，本研究调查的有效性热阈值测量评价振动引起的神经病变，也适合的测试条件。与健康对照组相比，手臂振动综合征患者手指的蠕虫和冷热阈值明显受损，并且随着周围神经损伤的进展，它们往往更糟。阈值与痛阈显著相关。此外，神经损伤的特异性优于痛阈。这些研究结果表明，热阈值测量是一个有用的测试，用于评估振动引起的神经病变，并可以替代疼痛阈值测量。适宜的测试条件为：测试板温度变化速率为1.0 ℃/s，手指按板压力为0.5N，受试者手臂有支撑。

Thermal thresholds as well as pain thresholds are expected to reflect the function of A delta myelinated fibers and C unmyelinated fibers, while vibrotactile thresholds are supposed to reflect the function of A beta myelinated fibers. Hence, the present study investigated the validity of thermal threshold measurements for evaluating vibration-induced neuropathy and also suitable test conditions. Worm and cold thermal thresholds of the finger were significantly damaged in patients with hand-arm vibration syndrome compared with healthy controls, and they tended to be worse with progress of peripheral nerve impairments. The thresholds were significantly correlated with pain thresholds. Additionally the specificity for detecting nerve damages was better than that of pain thresholds. These findings indicate that thermal threshold measurement is a useful test for evaluating vibration-induced neuropathy and can be an alternative to pain threshold measurement. And suitable test conditions need changing rate of test plate temperature at 1.0 ﾟC/s, press force of finger on the plate at 0.5 N, and a support of subject's arm.