The Assessment of Neuropathic Pain Patients

Abstract

SUMMARY Neuropathic pain arises as a direct consequence of a lesion or a disease affecting the somatosensory system. It is prevalent, under-diagnosed and under-treated. A key challenge to a clinician is to identify neuropathic pain and evaluate whether referral to a specialist is needed to clarify the causative disease. Location of neuropathic pain is neuroanatomically plausible, and clinical examination reveals abnormal sensory function in the area of pain. Sensory testing with simple tools is the most important part of the clinical examination. Other neurological findings are searched to conclude the location of the lesion in the neuraxis. Pain intensity and possible comorbidities such as impaired sleep, anxiety, depression and disability should be assessed at baseline and during management to evaluate the treatment effect.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

M Haanpää lectured or served on advisory boards for the following companies in the past 36 months: Abott, Astellas, Eli Lilly, Janssen Cilag, Mundipharma, Orion and Pfizer, and has participated in international congresses as a guest of Astellas and Pfizer. The author has no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Notes

Reproduced from [13] with permission from the International Association for the Study of Pain® (IASP®).