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Recent Advances in the Pharmacological Management of Neuropathic Pain

  • Pain Medicine (GJ Meredith, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Chronic neuropathic pain (NeP) is common. Traditional pharmacological treatments can demonstrate surprisingly little efficacy for reducing pain scores or improving function, and their use is often limited by side effects. Research into chronic pain pathophysiology has expanded in recent years and only by understanding these underlying mechanisms will we be best placed to develop new and novel drug therapies. In this review article, we will highlight some of the more recent pharmacological agents that have established themselves in the pain physicians’ armamentarium and continue to gain popularity as the evidence base grows together with some of the supporting evidences for their use. It is anticipated that this article will act to bring to the forefront of the pain physicians’ mind some of the alternative therapies for the management of chronic NeP that are often thought of as tertiary- or even quaternary-line in many established guidelines.

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Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance

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  1. Pain & Anaesthesia Research Centre, St Bartholomew’s Hospital, No 1 St Martin le Grand, West Smithfield, London, EC1A 7BE, UK

    Peter Keogh & Vivek Mehta

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  1. Peter Keogh
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Correspondence to Peter Keogh.

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Keogh, P., Mehta, V. Recent Advances in the Pharmacological Management of Neuropathic Pain. Curr Anesthesiol Rep 6, 327–333 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40140-016-0186-1

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