PO-17 | A clinical guide to assess and manage altered pain sensitivity and cervical musculoskeletal impairments migraine patients. Part 1: Assessment and profiling

Background: Migraine is a complex neurological disorder characterized by different signs and symptoms, and patients often present with an altered pain sensitivity and cervical musculoskeletal impairments1,2. Therefore, in the management of migraine patients the assessment and eventually a specific treatment of these aspects should be included. This abstract provides evidence-based guidance on assessment techniques and clinical reasoning strategies to help clinicians effectively evaluate and interpret these aspects in clinical practice. Methods: A review of the current literature has been performed and the results reported in this abstract are based on a recently published manuscript1,2. This abstract offers evidence-based guidance on how to perform and interpret assessment tests to effectively evaluate cervical musculoskeletal impairments and altered pain sensitivity in migraine patients. Results: This abstract provides a detailed explanation of how to perform a subjective examination (anamnesis) and an objective examination (physical examination): each test is described in detail, along with reference cut-off values that help identify the presence of these impairments. Based on the assessment results, each migraine patient was categorized into a specific subgroup according to the presence of cervical musculoskeletal impairments and/or altered pain sensitivity. Conclusion: The ability to accurately assess increased pain sensitivity and cervical musculoskeletal impairments will enable clinicians to profile migraine patients based on these characteristics and implement a personalized treatment approach.