Allodynia and muscle sensitization of cervical muscles are not associated with neck range of motion in children and adolescents diagnosed with migraine

Abstract text (incl. figure legends and references)

Question: To correlate allodynia and sensitization of cervical muscles with neck mobility in children and adolescents diagnosed with migraine. Methods: Fifty children (CH) and adolescents (AD) diagnosed with migraine by ICHD-III were screened, of both sexes, aged between 6 and 17 years at the tertiary headache outpatient clinic. Allodynia was assessed by the adapted allodynia questionnaire based on the ICHD-III and the sensitivity of the cervical muscles by the pressure pain threshold (PPT) using a digital algometer. The active mobility of the cervical spine (ROM) was evaluated in the movements of flexion, extension, lateral flexion, and rotation by the Flexion Rotation Test (FRT), using the CROM®. Results: The mean age of patients was 11.7 years (SD=3.0), most of them female (n=31/62%), with a diagnosis of episodic migraine (n=32/64%), of low intensity (2.4; SD=0.6)), pulsatile quality and duration in hours (18.0; SD=22.7). More than 70% of the sample had some comorbidity associated with the diagnosis of migraine, and neurological diseases, such as epilepsy, were more prevalent in both children (25.2%) and adolescents (26.3%), followed by respiratory diseases in children (20.1%) and psychological conditions in adolescents (19.8%). Pearson's correlation values between PPT and ROM for flexion and extension (rho=0.019 to 0.550) and lateral flexion (rho=0.002 to 0.136) and between PPT and left FRT (rho=0.043 to 0.336) and right FRT (rho=0.051 to 0.336) were classified as weak to moderate and not significant. Correlations between cutaneous allodynia and ROM for flexion and extension (rho=-0.024), lateral flexion (rho=0.278) and rotation (rho=-0.038) and for right FRT (rho=-0.085) and left FRT (rho=0.182), had p>0.05. Conclusion: Cervical sensitization represented by allodynia and LDP appears not to be associated with cervical mobility in the infant population.