from the Canadian Pain Society

Neuropathic pain (NeP) has been redefined as pain caused by a lesion or a disease of the somatosensory system, and may be generated by either the peripheral or central nervous system, or both (1). Pain may be a manifestation of nerve injury, but there are few predictors to indicate which patients will develop this complication. For example, 50 % of diabetic patients develop neuropathy during the course of their illness, but only approximately 15 % report actual dysesthesias or pain (2). Similarly, breast surgery with transection of the intercostal brachial nerve results in NeP in up to 50 % of patients (3). Previous prevalence estimates indicated that 2 % to 3 % of the population in the developed world experience NeP (4,5). However, newer studies using population-based questionnaires estimate a higher rate of 4 % to 8 % (6,7), which suggest that approximately two million Canadians experience this disabling condition. Even more striking is that the prevalence of NeP is likely to increase for a number of reasons. The population is aging, and a pandemic o