Prevalence of neuropathic pain among patients suffering from chronic low back pain in Saudi Arabia.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of neuropathic pain among patients suffering from chronic low back pain using the Leeds assessment of neuropathic symptoms and signs (LANSS) pain scale.


METHODS
This was a pilot study collected from 10 centers in the Middle East Region, with each center enrolling 10 patients between November 2004 and January 2004. In total, 100 patients with chronic low back pain were included in the study. The LANSS clinical assessment score was used to assess the presence of neuropathic pain. Patients with score > or =12 were considered to have neuropathic pain, while patients with score a less than 12 were considered as having nociceptive pain.


RESULTS
We found that 41% of the chronic low back pain patients had neuropathic pain and 59% had nociceptive pain.


CONCLUSIONS
The ability to identify neuropathic pain mechanisms should lead to individualized treatment resulting in improved pain control in this group of patients with chronic low back pain.
Hassan
Ayman E
AE
Department of Neurology, Saudi German Hospital, PO Box 2550, Jeddah 21461, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. aymanehassan@hotmail.com
Saleh
Hosny A
HA
Baroudy
Yehia M
YM
Abdul-Rahman
Khalid I
KI
Najjar
Marwan W
MW
Kazi
Manzor S
MS
El-Gazar
Mohamed A
MA
Hafez
Mohamed A
MA
Abdullah
Mohamed A
MA
Abdul-Rahman
Yousef A
YA
Youseif
Ehab A
EA
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009437:Neuralgia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D017288:Pain Threshold; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D010292:Paresthesia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D012529:Saudi Arabia; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000453:epidemiology; D013223:Statistics as Topic