Figure 5

Subjective rating of sensations perceived during and after ischemia of the arm. Visual analogue scale ratings (A) were determined at rest (Baseline), at the end of a 10 minute period of ischemia (peri-ischemic) and 10 minutes after releasing the cuff (post-ischemic). While at rest there was no significant difference between groups, in the peri- and postischemic phase treatment did have an effect. Especially in the post-ischemic period application of flupirtine (200 mg p.o.) 2 hours prior to the experiment led to a significant decrease in intensity of sensations (-41%, p = 0.03). Sensations perceived in the postischemic period were additionally assessed with the McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ; B&C). The total SF-MPQ score (TPRI) comprises both sensory (SPRI) and affective (APRI) components (B) and each were determined under control (filled bars) conditions and 2 hours after a single oral dose of flupirtine (open bars) or placebo (grey bars). Flupirtine significantly reduced TPRI (−45%; p < 0.01) and SPRI (-48%; p < 0.01). The SF-MPQ associative verbal descriptors (C) were also determined under control conditions (filled) and 2 hours after a single oral dose of flupirtine (200 mg; open) or placebo (grey). Under baseline conditions, the average rating of ‘throbbing’, ‘shooting’, ’stabbing’, ‘sharp’ and ‘hot-burning’ during ischemia was mild-moderate (filled). For the affective descriptors, only ‘sickening’ was rated as moderate. Oral flupirtine (200 mg p.o.) reduced the ratings of ‘hot-burning’ (p < 0.01) and ‘throbbing’(p = 0.04) from moderate to mild. Accordingly to the effect on sensory components, application of flupirtine led to a reduction of several sensory descriptors