BACKGROUND:Clinical diagnosis of various neurological disorders involving the sensory nerves depends primarily on subjective description.which cannot be quantitatively evaluated,and is also less reproducible and specific.Quantitative sensory testing mcthods can overcome these shortcomings and is currently used to identify the function of the C-and A-fibers.OBJECTIVE:To apply the quantitative sensory testing method for analyzing changes in temperature sensation,cryalgesia,thermalgesia,and vibration sense on the skin surface of hemiplegic patients with post-stroke shoulder-hand syndrome,and to analyze the relationship between these changes and shoulder-hand syndrome.DESIGN,TIME AND SETTING:A non-randomized,concurrent,control study was performed at the Clinic and Inpatient Department of the Third Xiangya Hospital,Central South University,between June 2000 and April 2001.PARTICIPANTS:Thirty post-stroke,hemiplegic patients were divided into shoulder-hand syndrome and control groups,according to whether patients exhibited shoulder-hand syndrome,with 15 patients in each group.METHODS:A TSA2001 quantitative sensory testing device(Medoc,Israel)was used for quantitative sensory testing.All sensory testing employed limits,testing temperature sense on the palm thenar eminence and vibration sense on the thumb metacarpal.Cold threshold was≤28℃.warmth threshold was≥36℃,cold-evoked pain threshold was≤5℃.heat-evoked pain threshold was≥51℃,vibration threshold was≥5 μ m/s;if a patient met one of these items,he/she was considered to be hypoanesthesia.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:Cold,warm,cold-evoked pain,heat-evoked pain and vibration threshold changes on skin from the paralyzed upper extremity was measured in the shoulder-hand syndrome and control groups.RESULTS:Incidence of sensory disability in the shoulder-hand syndrome group increased more significantly than in the control group(P