Overview
Neuropathic pain is pain caused by a lesion or disease of the somatosensory nervous system, distinguishing it from nociceptive pain that arises from actual or threatened tissue damage signaled by an intact system. It is broadly divided into peripheral neuropathic pain, resulting from injury to peripheral nerves or roots, and central neuropathic pain, originating in the spinal cord or brain. Underlying mechanisms include ectopic and spontaneous firing of damaged afferents, altered ion channel expression, peripheral and central sensitization, disinhibition, and maladaptive synaptic plasticity within pain-processing circuits. Clinically it presents with characteristic features such as burning or shooting pain, allodynia, in which normally innocuous stimuli provoke pain, hyperalgesia, and paraesthesia or sensory loss in the affected territory. Causes are diverse and include diabetic and other metabolic neuropathies, postherpetic and ophthalmic herpetic neuralgia, traumatic and iatrogenic nerve injury such as inferior alveolar nerve damage, postsurgical syndromes including post-mastectomy and post-thoracotomy pain after procedures such as lung transplantation, and neurotoxic effects of agents including local anesthetics. Management is often challenging and multimodal, emphasizing pharmacologic therapy with agents such as certain antidepressants, anticonvulsants, and topical treatments including high-concentration capsaicin patches, alongside interventional and rehabilitative approaches aimed at reducing pain and restoring function and quality of life.
Research published in this journal
12 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.
How this research is being cited
The 12 articles above have been cited 41 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.
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2026 · Journal of Surgical Research
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2026 · Neurology International
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2026 · Journal of Humanistic Psychology
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2026 · Journal of Interprofessional Care
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Hanane Barakat et al. · 2025 · Saudi Journal of Anaesthesia
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2025 · Journal of Interprofessional Care
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2025 · Journal of Cellular and Molecular Anesthesia
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2025 · Deleted Journal
A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Neuropathic Pain, linking to each citing work.