Visceral pain can provoke autonomic responses usually including tachycardia and pressor effects indicating sympathetic arousal. There are some evidence that visceral pain may provoke both parasympathetic and sympathetic activation and a subgroup of individuals/patients may have parasympathetic activation based on psychological traits (Neurogastroenterol Motil. 2009 Nov;21(11):1155-e98).
I'm looking for studies in which heart rate deceleration or other indexes of parasympathetic activation is observed in response to experimental visceral pain.
I can only share my clinical experience. About 99% of all patients with abdominal pain demonstrate tachycardia and othe sympathetic signs. However, several cases with adverse parasympathetic reations were observed causing some dissapointment. Probably, geneticaly determined peculiarities of response may be a cause. One case, for sure was when lady with abdominal pain and duodenal bleeding due to acute ulcer.
It is well established in MD's minds and textbooks that pain can cause bradycardia (and even some rarely reports of cardiac arrest) via an increase in vagal tone. See this case report and its references list : doi:10.1177/147323000603400414
Thanks for your responses.
Here our results in an experimental study. In all cases, and in almost all pain stimuli delivered at distal esophagus we observed acceleration in heart rate, not deceleration. I should add that stimulation was electrical, not mechanical.
What other index you suggest for measuring autonomic response to visceral pain?
Sure, in the clinical setting, the most common reaction to pain is by far tachycardia and hypertension. But bradycardia can occur as a consequence of very intense pain with increased vagal tone (for example during surgery/anesthesia, when patient is sleeping but opioids are administered at an inadequate too low dose)
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