[Validation of the Italian version of the "Neuropathic Pain Scale" and its clinical applications].
BACKGROUND
The Neuropathic Pain Scale is the first specific tool to measure and analyse pain due to a lesion in the nervous system; this kind of pain is usually difficult to describe for the patient because it is characterized by unusual qualities. Aim of this study is to evaluate a possible relation between pain descriptions and underlying pathogenetic mechanisms.


METHODS
The Italian version of the Neuropathic Pain Scale has been administered to 145 patients with neuropathic pain due to chronic radiculopathy, diabetic neuropathy, post-traumatic neuropathy, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome or postherpetic neuralgia. As it has been done in Galer's study, the predictive validity and the items' correlation have been evaluated; moreover, the structure validity of the scale has been studied.


RESULTS
Pain values were high in all pain syndromes with the prevalence of certain items in particular pathologies. The correlation of some items with "deep pain" and others with "superficial pain" was also observed.


CONCLUSIONS
The results have confirmed the statistical validity of the Italian version of the scale; they also pointed out the usefulness of the scale to distinguish between superficial pain, typical of neuropathic pain, and deep pain, typical of somatic pain.
Negri
E
E
Unità Operativa di Cure Palliative e Terapia del Dolore, Fondazione Salvatore Maugeri, IRCCS, Istituto Scientifico, Pavia, Italy.
Bettaglio
R
R
Demartini
L
L
Allegri
M
M
Barbieri
M
M
Miotti
D
D
Paulin
L
L
Buonocore
M
M
Bonezzi
C
C
D003929:Diabetic Neuropathies / Q000503:physiopathology; D006561:Herpes Simplex / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D009437:Neuralgia / Q000097:blood*; D010146:Pain / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D010147:Pain Measurement; D059348:Peripheral Nerve Injuries; D010525:Peripheral Nerves / Q000503:physiopathology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011843:Radiculopathy / Q000503:physiopathology; D012019:Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy / Q000503:physiopathology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires