Neuropathic pain is one of the most common, most debilitating, most costly, and most difficult to treat categories of chronic pain conditions that are characterized by a lesion or disease of the somatosensory nervous system. Managing neuropathic pain is challenging and requires skillful assessment and comprehensive and integrated treatment strategies that are mechanism-guided, evidence-based, and individualized. However, these critical and integral elements are very fragmented in the current literature. The mechanistic understanding of neuropathic pain is typically found in basic research articles. Clinical research evidence is presented in forms of clinical trials with emphasis on minimizing biases such as those from patient selection and assessment. Individualized considerations for each patient are usually presented in case reports and problem-based learning discussions.

This book overcomes these barriers and integrates all the critical elements around individual patient care into a coherent management strategy that is practical and applicable to daily clinical practice. Rather than compiling what have been published in the literature, this work emphasizes on identifying and highlighting the key points or findings that guide decision-making in clinical practice. It integrates the key points around a typical case scenario that not only represents the core of the diagnostic and therapeutic processes but also allows introduction and differentiation of painful conditions that bare similarities with the case in hand. The overarching goal is to improve clinical outcomes through better understanding of the mechanisms, more accurate diagnosis, and wiser and more comprehensive treatment strategies.

CONTENTS:
Part I: Overview of Neuropathic Pain
1. Concept and Overview of Neuropathic Pain
2. Classification of Neuropathic Pain
3. Mechanisms of Neuropathic Pain
4. Assessment and Diagnosis of Neuropathic Pain
5. Nonpharmacological Treatment of Neuropathic Pain
6. Pharmacological Treatment of Neuropathic Pain
7. Interventional Treatment of Neuropathic Pain
8. Surgical Treatment of Neuropathic Pain
9. Post-Surgical Neuralgia
10. Post-Tramatic Neuralgia
Part II: Focal or Multifocal Lesions of the Peripheral Nervous System
11. Herpes Zoster and Postherpetic Neuralgia
12. Entrapment Syndromes
13. Neurotrauma
14. Stump Pain
15. Ischemic Neuropathy
Part III: Focal or Multifocal Lesions of the Peripheral Nervous System
16. Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy
17. HIV Polyneuropathy
18. Immune Related Neuropathy
19. Metabolic, Endocrine, and Other Toxic Neuropathies
Part IV: Lesions of the CNS
20. Spinal Cord Injury
21. Brain Infarction (thalamus and brainstem)
22. Spinal Cord Infarction
23. Syringomyella
24. Multiple Sclerosis
25. Phantom Pain
26. Cervical Radiculopathy
Part V: Spinal Nerve Root Disease: Radicular Pain
27. Thoracic Radicular Pain
28. Lumbar Radicular Pain
29. Arachnoiditis
30. Trigeminal Neuralgia
31. Glossopharyngeal Neuralgia
Part VI: Neuropathic Pain of the Head and Neck
32. Persistent Idiopathic Facial Pain
33. Occipital Neuralgia
34. Complex Regional Pain Syndrome