J Korean Neurosurg Soc.
2007 Jan;41(1):65-68.
Neuropathic Back Pain : Are There Any Practical Diagnostic Criteria?
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Neurosurgery, Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital, Cheonan, Korea. ksleens@hotmail.com
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.
