Article
Clinical and Neurophysiological Features of Leprosy Patients with Neuropathic Pain
Registration in:
GIESEL, Louise Mara et al. Clinical and Neurophysiological Features of Leprosy Patients with Neuropathic Pain Louise Mara. Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., v. 98, n. 6, p. 1609-1613, 2018.
0002-9637
10.4269/ajtmh.17-0817
1476-1645
Author
Giesel, Louise Mara
Pitta, Izabela Jardim Rodrigues
Silveira, Raquel Custódio da
Andrade, Lígia Rocha
Vital, Robson Teixeira
Nery, José Augusto da Costa
Hacker, Mariana de Andrea Vilas Boas
Sarno, Euzenir Nunes
Rodrigues, Marcia Maria Jardim
Abstract
Neural pain is a frequent symptom in leprosy disease. There is a paucity of data regarding neural pain diagnostics resulting in common prescriptive errors when neuritis is confused with neuropathic or mixed nociceptive-neuropathic pain. The present study identified important demographic, clinical, and neurophysiological features of 42 leprosy neuropathy patients presenting neuropathic pain (NP). During routine evaluations, patients were selected asking if they had ever experienced neural pain. Data analyses of their pain characteristics, clinical examination results, and both the Douleur Neuropathique 4 Questionnaire and Hamilton Depression Scale scores were used to classify these patients. The most common word they used to describe the sensation of pain for 25 (60%) of these patients was "burning." In the early stages of the disease and before leprosy diagnosis, 19 (45%) had already complained about NP and leprosy treatment was unable to prevent its occurrence in 15 (36%). Leprosy reactions, considered NP risk factors, occurred in 32 (76%) cases. Knowledge of typical NP characteristics could be used to develop more effective therapeutic approaches for a notoriously difficult-to-treat pain condition. 2020-01-01