Musculoskeletal traumas have increased over time, raising healthcare costs. Chronic and neuropathic pain impact sleep and quality of life. Assessing the pressure pain threshold (PPT) is crucial for improving treatments and recovery outcomes.

To investigate the correlation between PPT in patients three months after upper limb musculoskeletal trauma and sleep quality and neuropathic pain characteristics while still hospitalized.

This study included 18 adult patients of both sexes with acute musculoskeletal trauma in the upper limb three months prior. Sleep quality was assessed using The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), with a global score ranging from 0 to 21, where scores above 5 indicate moderately impaired sleep quality. Neuropathic pain was evaluated using The Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs (LANSS), with scores ranging from 0 to 24, where scores above 12 indicate neuropathic pain. Both questionnaires were administered while patients were still hospitalized. The pressure pain threshold was measured using a digital algometer on the upper trapezius and tibialis anterior muscles bilaterally three months post-injury. Spearman’s correlation test was used significance level 5%, with correlations classified as weak (rho = 0.10–0.30).

In this cross-sectional study, 18 patients were evaluated, with a mean age of 40.78 (15.32) years, predominantly male (66.7%) and female (33.3%). The causes of injuries were work-related accidents (44.44%), traffic accidents (44.44%), and domestic incidents (11.11%), including falls from height. Fractures were present in 88.90% of cases, with 11.10% involving injuries in multiple locations, distributed as follows: shoulder/scapular girdle (33.30%), arm (22.20%), elbow (11.10%), forearm (5.60%), wrist (11.10%), and hand (16.70%). The mean PSQI score was 9.7 (5.0), indicating moderately impaired sleep quality. The mean LANSS score was 7.7 (5.3), below the cutoff of 12, suggesting no significant neuropathic pain component on average. The mean pressure pain thresholds (PPT) and standard deviations varied across sites: affected-side upper trapezius 6.1 (4.4) kg/cm², contralateral upper trapezius 6.0 (4.6) kg/cm², affected-side tibialis anterior 7.9 (5.3) kg/cm², and contralateral tibialis anterior 8.0 (4.8) kg/cm². A moderate negative correlation was found between the PPT of the affected-side upper trapezius and sleep quality (r = -0.5, p = 0.04), indicating that worse sleep quality at hospitalization was associated with a lower PPT in the affected-side upper trapezius three months post-injury. A moderate negative correlation was also observed between the PPT of the affected-side (r = -0.5, p = 0.04) and contralateral upper trapezius (r = -0.5, p = 0.02) and LANSS scores, suggesting that higher LANSS scores at hospitalization were associated with lower PPT in both the affected and unaffected upper trapezius three months post-injury. No correlation was found with PPT measured in the tibialis anterior.

Higher LANSS scores and worse PSQI scores were associated with lower PPT three months post-injury. Lower PPT also correlated with higher LANSS and PSQI scores during hospitalization.

Although the study presents interesting results and is longitudinal, the sample size (n) is insufficient for more robust analyses, considering other variables and possible confounding factors.