Non-laboratory adaptation to study spatial summation of pain during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

During COVID-19 pandemic associated with multiple restrictions research performance is significantly hampered. This experiment aimed to verify, whether it is possible to adapt the experimental pain induction technique and observe the spatial summation of pain (SSp) within the field-like environment (so that it is possible to conduct the experiment outside of the laboratory and obtain similar results). Two variants of the Cold Pressor Task (CPT) were chosen to induce the SSp effect: i) using a professional apparatus available in the laboratory and ii) with the use of a commercially available plastic box filled with ice and water and a thermometer to measure the temperature of the water. Volunteers’ (n = 9) hands were divided into 5 segments, which were then subsequently immersed in the cold water (5°C) for 60 seconds (5-minute intertrial interval). Each participant took part in two sessions, i.e., using laboratory equipment and its non-laboratory equivalent. Preliminary observations confirmed that it is possible to induce SSp using both laboratory devices and methods adapted to non-laboratory conditions. SSp effect size was found to be similar in both methods. Small differences in the level of reported pain were observed, but these differences did not affect the SSp effect. The study showed that it is possible to adapt the procedure to induce pain and SSp within non-laboratory environment.