Faghih M, Phillips AE, Kuhlmann LF, et al. - In this multicenter cross-sectional study, researchers examined the capability of pancreatic Quantitative sensory testing [P-QST; this included a cold pressor test, repetitive pin prick stimuli and pressure stimulation of the upper abdominal (T10) and control dermatomes] to differentiate chronic pancreatitis patients into distinct pain phenotypes. In addition, they investigated the correlation of these with their clinical pain and psychiatric comorbidities. Among a total of 179 patients, P-QST indicated no hyperalgesia in 91 (51%), segmental hyperalgesia in 50 (28%) and widespread hyperalgesia in 38 (21%) patients. Significantly higher pain intensity scores and rates of constant pain as well as decreased QoL and physical functioning were reported among patients with widespread hyperalgesia vs the other two pain phenotypes. In contrast, the groups were similar concerning psychiatric comorbidities. The findings support the possible utility of P-QST as a novel unbiased pain assessment tool in chronic pancreatitis as it allowed categorization of patients into distinct pain phenotypes independent of their psychiatric comorbidities.