• Svjetlana Dosenovic, Antonia Jelicic Kadic, Maja Miljanovic, Marina Biocic, Krste Boric, Marija Cavar, Nikolina Markovina, Katarina Vucic, and Livia Puljak.
• From the Departments of *Anesthesiology and Intensive Care and †Pediatrics, University Hospital Center Split, Split, Croatia; ‡Agency for Quality and Accreditation in Health Care and Social Welfare, Zagreb, Croatia; §Laboratory for Pain Research, Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, University of Split School of Medicine, Split, Croatia; ∥Department of Radiology, University Hospital Center Split, Split, Croatia; and ¶Agency for Medicinal Products and Medical Devices, Zagreb, Croatia.
• Anesth. Analg. 2017 Aug 1; 125 (2): 643-652.

AbstractNumerous interventions for neuropathic pain (NeuP) are available, but its treatment remains unsatisfactory. We systematically summarized evidence from systematic reviews (SRs) of randomized controlled trials on interventions for NeuP. Five electronic databases were searched up to March 2015. Study quality was analyzed using A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews. The most common interventions in 97 included SRs were pharmacologic (59%) and surgical (15%). The majority of analyzed SRs were of medium quality. More than 50% of conclusions from abstracts on efficacy and approximately 80% on safety were inconclusive. Effective interventions were described for painful diabetic neuropathy (pregabalin, gabapentin, certain tricyclic antidepressants [TCAs], opioids, antidepressants, and anticonvulsants), postherpetic neuralgia (gabapentin, pregabalin, certain TCAs, antidepressants and anticonvulsants, opioids, sodium valproate, topical capsaicin, and lidocaine), lumbar radicular pain (epidural corticosteroids, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation [rTMS], and discectomy), cervical radicular pain (rTMS), carpal tunnel syndrome (carpal tunnel release), cubital tunnel syndrome (simple decompression and ulnar nerve transposition), trigeminal neuralgia (carbamazepine, lamotrigine, and pimozide for refractory cases, rTMS), HIV-related neuropathy (topical capsaicin), and central NeuP (certain TCAs, pregabalin, cannabinoids, and rTMS). Evidence about interventions for NeuP is frequently inconclusive or completely lacking. New randomized controlled trials about interventions for NeuP are necessary; they should address safety and use clear diagnostic criteria.

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