Neuropathic Pain: Some Clues for Future Drug Treatments

J.   E.   Banos; G.      Sanchez; F.      Berrendero; R.      Maldonado

Abstract

Neuropathic pain is still far from being adequately dealt with. Under this name, several clinical entities have been considered and most of them only share several painful ailments. At present, the available treatments can only alleviate the pain of roughly half of the patients, and their effectiveness is often limited by the appearance of the intolerable side effects. In this review, we will consider the pathophysiology of neuropathic pain to understand the basis of pharmacological treatments that are currently being investigated. Some examples of these drugs will also be considered.

Keywords: pain, neuropathic pain, analgesics, pathophysiology, allodynia, hyperalgesia, experimental models, new drugs