The relationship between resting systolic blood pressure and cutaneous pain perception in cardiac patients with angina pectoris and controls

In order to determine the influence of resting systolic blood pressure and stable angina on cutaneous pain perception, we studied 19 male cardiac patients with stable angina and 16 male controls. Pain perception was measured using a suprathreshold evaluation of pain intensity and pain unpleasantness to a series of thermal stimuli. We found that men with higher resting blood pressure had a decrease in the perception of pain intensity and pain unpleasantness. Similarly, we found that patients with stable angina perceived pain as less intense and unpleasant than controls. These differences in pain perception may be associated with different pain mechanisms: in the case of blood pressure, differences in opioid activity and baroreceptor-regulated pain systems; in the case of stable angina, patients may adapt to continued experiences of pain, altering internal frames of reference.