Breadcrumb trail
- Centre for Pain Medicine
- Pain Medicine
- Neurology
- What is Neuropathic Pain?
Contents
What is Neuropathic Pain?
According to the newest definition of pain arising from nerves, or neuropathic pain, proposed by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) in 2008: “Neuropathic pain is caused by a lesion or disease of the somatosensory system.” The somatosensory system processes information from receptors in the skin, joints, and muscles, and thus serves primarily to allow the perception of sensory qualities such as pressure, touch, pain, and temperature.
While current data indicate an overall incidence of neuropathic pain of 8% in general medical practice, the incidence is 26% in patients with type II diabetes and 8% after episodes of shingles and stroke.
The procedure to diagnose neuropathic pain is threefold
- Taking the history: The character of the pain (burning, shooting, tingling, crushing), the affected body area, as well as a history of a previous injury, surgery, or certain diseases may point to a neuropathic origin.
- Neurologic examination: The observation of positive (pain provocation by touch, increased sensitivity to pinprick or temperature) or negative (decreased sensitivity to touch, temperature, or painful stimuli) neuropathic signs may also point to a neuropathic origin.
- Diagnostic tests: Additional diagnostic tests such as neurophysiologic examinations (see below) can identify general nerve damage; specific tests of the pain-transmitting systems (QST, LEP, LDI, see below) can support the probability that pain is neuropathic. Additional imaging methods or laboratory tests of the blood or spinal fluid may also be indicated.
