Background & Aims
Chronic pain is a major medical challenge and one of the most common causes of disability and impaired quality of life worldwide. Traditional pain management approaches often focus on pharmacological interventions, with limited success and potential side effects.
A main problem of chronic pain patients is the comorbidity of psychological disorders such as depression, anxiety and high levels of emotional stress. Therefore Eye-Movement-Desensitization-Reprocessing therapy (EMDR), which is a well-known therapy for PTSD, has been explored in several randomized controlled trials and demonstrated efficacy of EMDR in the treatment of pain (Tesarz et al., 2014) and therefore represents a promising option for further pain treatment.
As EMDR therapy is an exposing procedure, it can be assumed that there may also be adverse reactions and side effects, but there is hardly any data on this.
Methods
The PerPain project, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), is investigating personalised therapeutic approaches for pain patients. A total of 105 patients were randomised and divided into three groups, with each group receiving specific psychotherapy. 33 patients underwent twelve weeks of individual therapy with EMDR. During the therapy, the patients regularly completed questionnaires and the therapists documented each session comprehensively.
Results
Side effects were recorded using the Negative Effects Questionnaire (NEQ) and the Inventory for Assessing Negative Effects of Psychotherapy (INEP). Additionally, severe adverse events and dropouts were documented. The side effects are described descriptively. This includes detailing the number of side effects experienced as well as the domains in which patients primarily experience side effects.
Conclusions
This poster focuses on the evaluation of the potential side effects of EMDR therapy. The side effects include changes in emotional regulation and somatic symptoms. The aim is to demonstrate and critically discuss the cost-benefit ratio of EMDR therapy.
References
Tesarz, J., Leisner, S., Gerhardt, A., Janke, S., Seidler, G.H., Eich, W. and Hartmann, M. (2014), Systematic Review: EMDR in Chronic Pain. Pain Med, 15: 247-263. https://doi.org/10.1111/pme.12303
Beiner, E., Baumeister, D., Buhai, D. et al. The PerPAIN trial: a pilot randomized controlled trial of personalized treatment allocation for chronic musculoskeletal pain—a protocol. Pilot Feasibility Stud 8, 251 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40814-022-01199-6
Presenting Author
Stephanie Vock
Poster Authors
Stephanie Vock
M.Sc. Psychology
Department of General Internal Medicine and Psychosomatics, Medical Hospital Heidelberg
Lead Author
Michelle Hermes
M.Sc.
Department of General Internal Medicine and Psychosomatics, Medical Hospital Heidelberg
Lead Author
Eva Beiner
M.Sc.
Department of General Internal Medicine and Psychosomatics, Medical Hospital Heidelberg
Lead Author
Topics
- Treatment/Management: Interventional Therapies – Other