Laboratory tools for assessing neuropathic pain.
Neuropathic pain, i.e. pain arising as a direct consequence of a lesion or disease of the somatosensory system, affects about the 7 % of the general population. In this short review, we describe the most reliable laboratory tools for assessing neuropathic pain, such as quantitative sensory testing, laser-evoked potential recordings and skin biopsy, procedures that selectively assess nociceptive pathways.
Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, University Sapienza, Viale Università 30, 00185 Rome, Italy.
Giulia
G
Di Stefano
Silvia
S
La Cesa
Antonella
A
Biasiotta
Caterina
C
Leone
Alessia
A
Pepe
Giorgio
G
Cruccu
Andrea
A
Truini
D000818:Animals; D003943:Diagnostic Techniques, Neurological; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007834:Lasers; D009437:Neuralgia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods*