How does heart rate variability respond to experimentally induced pain in healthy adults?
HRV is an advantageous measure of autonomic reactivity in response to nociceptive stimulation, though further research is needed on pain induction methods and interindividual variability.
HRV has several advantages compared to other measures of autonomic reactivity in studies investigating physiological response to nociceptive stimulation. Future studies should focus on comparisons between different methods of pain induction, interindividual variability in pain sensitivity by baseline autonomic activity, and the implications of both on the use of HRV within routine clinical evaluations.
Koenig et al. (Tue,) studied this question.