Assessment of Pain Intensity

To evaluate pain intensity, a pressure of 25 N was exerted on the MTP using an algometer and patients were asked to show their pain on the NPS after pressure application. The NPS is a sensitive and reproducible instrument commonly used for the assessment of variations in intensity of pain. In clinical practice, the amount of pain relief is often considered as a measure of the efficacy of treatment. The NPS was a 10-cm horizontal line divided into 10 equal parts. To evaluate the pain intensity, the NPS was used simultaneously with the algometer application.^{24, 25, 30}