PAIN PERCEPTION AND SERUM BETA-ENDORPHIN IN TRAUMA PATIENTS

Acute traumatic injury engenders the production of beta-endorphin (BE) and other endogenous opioids. Elevated BE concentration putatively co rrelates with pain perception in trauma patients. The authors examined traumatic injury severity, pain perception, and BE concentration in p atients admitted to an urban trauma center. Brief rating instruments f or pain and unpleasantness were administered, and blood was drawn for BE analysis in 48 trauma admissions and 33 age-, gender-, and race-mat ched control subjects for comparison. The authors found no correlation between severity of pain perception and BE, but a significant correla tion was found between BE and patient body weight (P < 0.05), physicia n pain rating (P < 0.01), and Injury Severity Score (P < 0.001). The r esults suggest that past findings associating trauma pain perception a nd BE concentration are spurious.