TY - JOUR
T1 - COVID-19 and musculoskeletal pain
T2 - an overview of the current knowledge
AU - Castaldo, Matteo
AU - Ebbesen, Brian D
AU - Fernández-DE-Las-Peñas, César
AU - Arendt-Nielsen, Lars
AU - Giordano, Rocco
PY - 2023/12
Y1 - 2023/12
N2 - The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has provoked billions of infections worldwide. Several meta-analyses have observed that up to 50% of individuals who had survived to a SARS-CoV-2 acute infection suffer from post-COVID symptoms lasting for weeks or months and up to one year after infection. The prevalence of post-COVID pain ranges between 10% to 20% when assessed with other overall post-COVID symptoms and can reach up to 50% to 60% when investigated specifically. The most common musculoskeletal manifestations of post-COVID-19 condition include fatigue, myalgia, arthralgia or back pain. Despite pain of musculoskeletal origin is one of the most prevalent post-COVID pain symptoms, the exact pathophysiological mechanisms of musculoskeletal post-COVID pain are not completely understood. Studies have reported the complexity of post-COVID pain including immune, biological, and psychological factors, and more recently, they have suggested that genetic and epigenetic factors may also play a potential role, highlighting the need for further investigation into these mechanisms. Its management is still controversial, as no specific guideline for treating musculoskeletal post-COVID pain has been proposed with only general consideration about the relevance of multidisciplinary and multimodal treatment approaches. In this paper we will highlight the clinical features, the mechanism, and the management possibilities of musculoskeletal post-COVID pain.
AB - The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has provoked billions of infections worldwide. Several meta-analyses have observed that up to 50% of individuals who had survived to a SARS-CoV-2 acute infection suffer from post-COVID symptoms lasting for weeks or months and up to one year after infection. The prevalence of post-COVID pain ranges between 10% to 20% when assessed with other overall post-COVID symptoms and can reach up to 50% to 60% when investigated specifically. The most common musculoskeletal manifestations of post-COVID-19 condition include fatigue, myalgia, arthralgia or back pain. Despite pain of musculoskeletal origin is one of the most prevalent post-COVID pain symptoms, the exact pathophysiological mechanisms of musculoskeletal post-COVID pain are not completely understood. Studies have reported the complexity of post-COVID pain including immune, biological, and psychological factors, and more recently, they have suggested that genetic and epigenetic factors may also play a potential role, highlighting the need for further investigation into these mechanisms. Its management is still controversial, as no specific guideline for treating musculoskeletal post-COVID pain has been proposed with only general consideration about the relevance of multidisciplinary and multimodal treatment approaches. In this paper we will highlight the clinical features, the mechanism, and the management possibilities of musculoskeletal post-COVID pain.
KW - Anxiety
KW - COVID-19/therapy
KW - Combined Modality Therapy
KW - Humans
KW - Musculoskeletal Pain/etiology
KW - SARS-CoV-2
KW - Phenotype
KW - Prevalence
KW - Post-acute COVID-19 syndrome
KW - Therapeutics
KW - Genetics
KW - Musculoskeletal pain
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85178498941&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.23736/S0375-9393.23.17471-2
DO - 10.23736/S0375-9393.23.17471-2
M3 - Review article
C2 - 38019176
SN - 0375-9393
VL - 89
SP - 1134
EP - 1142
JO - Minerva Anestesiologica
JF - Minerva Anestesiologica
IS - 12
ER -