Neuropathic Back Pain : Are There Any Practical Diagnostic Criteria?.
- Author:
Kyeong Seok LEE
1
;
Jae Jun SHIM
;
Jae Won DOH
;
Seok Mann YOON
;
Hack Gun BAE
;
Il Gyu YUN
Author Information
1. Department of Neurosurgery, Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital, Cheonan, Korea. ksleens@hotmail.com
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Back pain diagnosis;
Pain measurement;
Anticonvulsants
- MeSH:
Anticonvulsants;
Back Pain*;
Diagnosis;
Humans;
Lidocaine;
Low Back Pain;
Lung Neoplasms;
Neuralgia;
Pain Measurement;
Surveys and Questionnaires
- From:Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
2007;41(1):65-68
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
OBJECTIVE: A new point of view on the chronic back pain proposed which is, named neuropathic back pain(NBP). Some proposed a certain pain scale as an useful diagnostic tool. Before scientific verification, some doctors prescribed a new anticonvulsant for the NBP. We investigated diagnostic tools for NBP by a review of the literature. METHODS: A comprehensive computer search of the English literature concerning neuropathic low back pain was performed using the key words such as neuropathic back pain and diagnosis in the PubMed. RESULTS: In 1998, the term NBP was first used in a patient with lung cancer. In the English literature, there were two diagnostic methods for the NBP, Neuropathic pain scale(NPS) and a pharmacological test. NPS is a pain questionnaire, which depends on the patients'subjective reports on the given questions, such as 'how hot is your pain feel'. By the pharmacological test, NBP was defined as 50% or more decrease of pain on intravenous lidocaine and on local anesthetic epidurally. It also depends on the patients'subjective response to the therapy. CONCLUSION: There were still no reliable objective diagnostic criteria for the NBP. It seems to be better to reserve the new anticonvulsants for the NBP till scientific approval.
