Neuropathic pain models and outcome measures: a dual translational challenge

The phenomenon of pain may be neuropathic in nature and it invariably stems from disease or injury affecting the somatosensory system (1,2). Neuropathic pain is usually a chronic condition and is a significant cause of morbidity. It has a pronounced impact on wellbeing as well as patient quality of life and of those patients presenting with pain, up to a quarter of them suffer neuropathic pain (3,4). It involves symptoms of an abnormally unpleasant sensation (dysesthesia), allodynia typified by a painful sensation to a normally innocuous stimulus and hyperalgesia characterized by an exaggerated pain perception to a normally noxious stimulus (5).