Xin yixue (Mar 2022)
Incidence and clinical significance of acute pain in patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome in Southwestern Shandong Province of China： 226 cases of a single-center study
Abstract
Objective To investigate the incidence of pain in patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome （GBS） during acute phase and analyze its relationship with clinical features, clinical variants and anti-ganglioside antibodies in patients from Southwestern Shandong Province, aiming to explore the clinical significance of acute pain in GBS. Methods 226 patients with GBS were enrolled in this prospective observational clinical study. Clinical data were collected, and all patients were followed up for one year. The differences in clinical features, clinical variants and anti-ganglioside antibodies between patients with and without pain during acute phase were analyzed. Results Among 226 GBS patients, 121 were male and 105 were female. 45 patients （19.9%） had pain during acute phase, 46.5% （n = 105） developed antecedent infection, 82.7% （n = 187） experienced limb weakness and 51.8% （n = 117） had sensory deficits. 73.2% （145/198） presented with albuminocytological dissociation in the cerebrospinal fluid. 46.8% （96/205） were positive for anti-ganglioside antibody IgG. 44.7% （n = 101） were diagnosed with classic motor-sensory GBS and 39.4% （89/226） with pure motor GBS. The proportion of upper respiratory tract infection in GBS patients with pain was significantly lower than that in those without pain （P = 0.029）. There was no significant difference in clinical features, clinical variants and positive rate of anti-ganglioside antibodies between patients with and without pain during acute phase （all P > 0.05）. Conclusions Except for the upper respiratory tract infection, no significant difference is observed in clinical features and prognosis between GBS patients with and without pain during acute phase. The types and classifications of GBS deserve further validation.
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