• Christian Geber, Ulf Baumgärtner, Rainer Schwab, Harald Müller, Peter Stoeter, Marianne Dieterich, Clemens Sommer, Frank Birklein, and Rolf-Detlef Treede.
• Department of Neurology, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany.
• Am. J. Med. 2009 Oct 1;122(10 Suppl):S3-12.

AbstractThe definition of neuropathic pain has recently been revised by an expert committee of the Neuropathic Pain Special Interest Group of the International Association for the Study of Pain (NeuPSIG) as "pain arising as direct consequence of a lesion or disease affecting the somatosensory system," and a grading system of "definite," "probable," and "possible" neuropathic pain has been introduced. This open case series of 5 outpatients (3 men, 2 women; mean age 48 +/- 12 years) demonstrates how the grading system can be applied, in combination with appropriate confirmatory testing, to diagnosis neuropathic conditions in clinical practice. The proposed grading system includes a dynamic algorithm that enhances the physician's ability to determine with a greater level of certainty whether a pain condition is neuropathic. Its clinical use should be further validated in prospective studies.

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