By understanding the neuroplastic changes following nerve damage, researchers may be able to better understand the mechanism of hyperexcitability in the nervous system that is believed to cause neuropathic pain.
Peripheral nerve injury
A neuron’s response to trauma can often be determined by the severity of the injury, classified by Seddon's classification. In Seddon’s Classification, nerve injury is described as either neurapraxia, axonotmesis, or neurotmesis. Following trauma to the nerve, a short onset of afferent impulses, termed “injury discharge”, occurs. While lasting only minutes, this occurrence has been linked to the onset of neuropathic pain.
When assessing neuralgia to find the underlying mechanism, a history of the pain, description of pain, clinical examination, and experimental examination are required. Since pain is subjective to the patient, it is important to use a pain assessment scale, such as the McGill Pain Questionnaire . Qualifying the severity of the pain is essential in diagnosis and in evaluating the effectiveness of the treatment. Clinical examinations usually involve testing responses to stimuli such as touch, temperature, and vibration. Neuralgia can be further classified by the type of stimuli that elicits a response: mechanical, thermal, or chemical. Response to the course of treatment is the final tool used to determine the mechanism of the pain. Future research must focus on the relationships between all of these categories.
Quantitative sensory testing
Another method for testing the proper function of a nerve is Quantitative sensory testing (QST). QST relies on analysis of a patient’s response to external stimuli of controlled intensity. A stimulus is applied to the skin of the nerve area being tested in ascending and descending orders of magnitude. Clinicians can quantify the mechanical sensitivity of the tactile stimulus using von Frey hairs or Semmes-Weinstein monofilaments. Also, weighted needles can be used to measure pin-prick sensation, and an electronic vibrameter is used to measure vibration sensitivity. Thermal stimuli are quantified by using a probe that operates on the Peltier principle.
Neural augmentative surgeries are used to stimulate the affected nerve. By stimulating the nerve the brain can be “fooled” into thinking it is receiving normal input. Electrodes are carefully placed in the dorsal root and subcutaneous nerve stimulation is used to stimulate the targeted nerve pathway. A technician can create different electrical distributions in the nerve to optimize the efficiency, and a patient controls the stimulation by passing a magnet over the unit.
Further Reading
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia article on
"Neuralgia"
All material adapted used from Wikipedia is available under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
Wikipedia® itself is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.