A new pain assessment tool helps to differentiate radicular from axiallow back pain (LBP), according to the results of a study. Adequate pain assessment is critical for evaluating the efficacy of analgesic in clinical practice and during the development of new therapies. Researchers have developed a tool for a standardized assessment of pain-related signs and symptoms that differentiates pain phenotipes independent of etiology. these assessment items were combined in a pain assessment tool that the investigators nemed Standardized Evalution of Pain (StEP). The study involved 130 patients with peripheral neuropathic neuralgia, or radicular LBP, and 57 patients with non-neuropathic, an axial LBP. Hierarchical cluster analysis was used to distinct association patterns of signs and symptoms that characterized 6 subtypes of patients with neuropathic pain of 2 with non-neuropathic pain.
In an independent group of 137 patients, StEP was validated for the ability todistinguishradicular LBp from axial LBP. For the identification of radicular pain, the sensitivity of StEP was 92% and apecificity was 97%. the diagnostic accuracy of StEP was superior to that of a dedicated screening tool for neuropathic pain and spinal magnetic resonance imaging. The investigetors were also able to reproduce subtypes of radicular and axial LBP, confirming that StEP is useful for distinguishing specific patterns of symptoms and sign.
No comments:
Post a Comment