[Nocioceptive pain, neuropathic pain and pain memory].
BACKGROUND
Pain is a cognitive evaluation. Its appearance in the new functional image systems is promising. Nocioceptive pain, usually acute or persistent, is useful to prevent animals from getting injured.


CONCLUSIONS
Chronic pain is disease per se: It is due to a sensitisation phenomena and pain memory with an important relationship with emotions. Neuropathic pain is a neurological symptom due to a somatosensorial system dysfunction. In this case, axonal ectopic generation of impulses and synaptic hyperexcitability occurs. In persistent cases, sensitisation phenomenon and memory of pain appear together with neuropathic pain.


CONCLUSIONS
Pain treatment should be physiopathologicaly orientated. Pain units, specialized in analgesic treatment and some invasive techniques, are usually competent in the treatment of nocioceptive pain. Neuropathic pain should have a neurologic diagnosis and treatment. But neurologist need to be more and more interested in the chronic pain related with memory and sensitisation: better knowledge of the cerebral mechanisms in this phenomenon can add to this pathology in our field.
Montero-Homs
Jordi
J
Sección de Neurofisiología, Servicio de Neurología, Clínica del Dolor, Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, L'Hospitalet del Llobregat (Barcelona). jmonterohoms@bellvitgehospital.cat
D000700:Analgesics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D010146:Pain / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D059408:Pain Management; D017288:Pain Threshold
D000700:Analgesics