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The expectation of pain relief can exert a powerful analgesic effect. The placebo effect is the effect that follows the administration of an inert treatment (the placebo), be it pharmacological or not. Placebos and placebo effects have held an ambivalent place in health care for at least 2 centuries. Placebos are traditionally used as controls in clinical trials to correct for biases. Among other factors, these include regression to the mean, the natural course of the disorder, and effective co-interventions. On the other hand, there is mounting scientific evidence that placebo analgesia represent complex psychoneurobiological event involving the contribution of distinct central nervous system, as well as peripheral physiological mechanisms that influence pain perception, clinical symptoms, and substantially modulate the response to active analgesics. It is important to understand that a placebo procedure simulates a therapy through the surrounding psychosocial context.
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