Pseudoradicular and radicular low-back pain – A disease continuum rather than different entities? Rebuttal: Reply to the letter “Cheese and Chalk? Missing the real anatomy” by Breck McKay

Treatment of painful radiculopathies with capsaicin 8% cutaneous patch.

The treatment of neuropathic pain due to low-back (lumbosacral) radiculopathies, a common source of neuropathic pain, is challenging and often requires a multimodal therapeutic approach. The capsaicin 8% patch is the first topical analgesic licensed for peripheral neuropathic pain. To evaluate this treatment, a subset of patients with painful radiculopathy (lumbar and cervical, including ventral and dorsal rami) enrolled into the multicenter, non-interventional QUEPP study (QutenzaOf the 1044 study participants, 50 were diagnosed with painful radiculopathy as only peripheral neuropathic pain syndrome and were eligible for evaluation. Patients received a single treatment (visit 1) with follo…

Neuropathic pain in cancer: systematic review, performance of screening tools and analysis of symptom profiles.

Background The objectives of this study were to evaluate the methodological quality of rigorous neuropathic pain assessment tools in applicable clinical studies, and determine the performance of screening tools for identifying neuropathic pain in patients with cancer. Methods Systematic literature search identified studies reporting use of Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs (LANSS), Douleur Neuropathique en 4 (DN4) or painDETECT (PDQ) in cancer patients with a clinical diagnosis of neuropathic or not neuropathic pain. Individual patient data were requested to examine descriptor item profiles. Results Six studies recruited a total of 2301 cancer patients of which 1564 (68%) r…

Pseudoradicular and radicular low-back pain--a disease continuum rather than different entities? Answers from quantitative sensory testing.

To assess whether pseudoradicular low-back pain may be associated with subclinical sensory deficits in the distal extremity, we applied the quantitative sensory testing protocol of the German Research Network on Neuropathic Pain (DFNS) in 15 patients with pseudoradicular pain distribution. Sixteen age- and gender-matched healthy control subjects as well as 12 patients with radicular pain syndromes (L4-S1) were studied with the same protocol. Radicular pain was diagnosed using clinical criteria (pain radiation beyond the knee, motor-, sensory-, or reflex deficits, positive Lasegue's test). Z-score QST profiles revealed a selective loss of vibration detection, detection of v. Frey hair contac…

Pseudoradicular and radicular low-back pain – A disease continuum rather than different entities? Rebuttal: Reply to the letter by M. Schiltenwolf and M. Akbar