Neuropathic pain in the upper extremity is a serious problem, commonly involving relatively young patients. The pain causes loss of function and productivity, changes a patient's lifestyle and can progress into a chronic pain syndrome with secondary psychosocial co-morbidities. Treating patients with a painful mononeuropathy remains challenging, with a monodisciplinary approach often having limited treatment efficacy. This narrative review discusses how to deal with this challenge in the treatment of patients with peripheral nerve injury pain, addressing the four important pillars: (1) diagnosing a painful mononeuropathy; (2) clinical pain phenotyping; (3) personalized pain treatment; and (4) using a multidisciplinary team approach.
Keyphrases
- neuropathic pain
- chronic pain
- pain management
- spinal cord
- spinal cord injury
- peripheral nerve
- cardiovascular disease
- metabolic syndrome
- newly diagnosed
- physical activity
- mental health
- quality improvement
- ejection fraction
- weight loss
- combination therapy
- type diabetes
- prognostic factors
- climate change
- replacement therapy
- postoperative pain