Research in Translation Tools for Assessing Neuropathic Pain

According to the latest definition, the term neuropathic pain refers to pain arising as a direct consequence of a lesion or disease affecting the somatosensory system [1]. When physicians and researchers use the term assessment of neuropathic pain, they may be referring to two distinct types of assessment: (1) assessing pain intensity and quality and possibly their treatment-induced changes, and (2) diagnosing neuropathic (as opposed to non-neuro-pathic) pain. Pain is a complex experience that depends strongly on cognitive, emotional, and educational influences. Hence the pressing need for tools that can measure pain objectively. We distinguish four different levels of ‘‘objectivity’’: (1) labora-tory tests that use quantitative tools and measure an objective response; (2) quan-titative sensory testing, a measure that despite using quantitative, graded stimuli inevitably relies on the patient’s evalua-tion; (3) bedside examination, which relies on the physician’s experience and the patient’s ability and willingness to collab-orate; and (4) pain questionnaires, tools that depend entirely on the patient. We review each of these in turn, drawing in part on our previous work in this field [2]