Papers of the Week

Placebo treatments even if known to the patient to be placebo, so-called "open label placebo," may be effective in reducing chronic painThe effects of the extent of placebo education are poorly understood WHAT THIS ARTICLE TELLS US THAT IS NEW: Using a well-characterized electrical pain sensitization model in human volunteers, the effects of short versus detailed placebo educational protocols were measuredOpen label placebo treatment reduced pain sensitization in the volunteers, but the extent of placebo education did not modify these responses BACKGROUND:: Open label placebos with patient education are effective in reducing chronic pain, and recent studies on their effect on pain have established interest in this field. Nevertheless, data on their effect on acute pain are scarce, and on hyperalgesia and allodynia, absent. This study assessed the effect of open label placebos on acute pain in healthy adult males and the influence of placebo education.