Neuralgia
Definition spontaneous painful affliction of a nerve, due to lesions of Aβ, Aδ and/or C neurofibers. The prefix "neur-" means "relating to the nerve" (ancient Greek νευρου), while "-algia" refers to pain (ἄλγος).
A bit of history In 1802, the introduction of neuralgia within nosology begins with Francois Chaussier's formal description:
1) by the nature of the pain, w hich is at once sharp, tearing (...), with torpor or formication, more often with pulsations, throbbing and successive tugging, without redness, heat, tension or tension and apparent swelling of the body part, which recurs in frequent attacks of shorter duration (...);
2) by the site of pain, which is always fixed (...) on a branch of the nerve and which, at the time of the paroxysm (sudden attack or reemergence of symptoms), spreads from the point originally affected to all its branches, and travels through them strike of lightning, until the furthest extremities, following them through their various connections, affecting them one after the other (Rey, 1993, pp. 261-262).
Different neuralgias of the XXIst century by cutaneous domain (Spicher et al., 2022): Symptomatic trigeminal neuralgia - Essential trigeminal neuralgia, Occipital neuralgia, Cervical neuralgia, Brachial neuralgia, Posterior-intercostal neuralgia, Lumbo-abdominal neuralgia, Lumbo-femoral neuralgia, Femoral neuralgia, Sciatic neuralgia[1], Sacral neuralgia.
Some neuralgias may be specifically named post-herpetic, sciatic or pudendal.
From symptoms to peripheral neuropathic pain syndrome
You can use the term neuralgia if, from the following list, three or more symptoms are described by the patient (Spicher, 2003; Bouhassira et al., 2004; Bouhassira, 2005):
The electrical character running along a nerve branch: "Irradiations", "Elancements", "Throwing", "Discharges", "Juice blasts", "Pulling", "Ringing", "Chestnut blasts";
Cutaneous "burning sensations", like a real burn, circumscribed within the hypoesthetic territory hypoesthetic territory, which covers only part of the maximum cutaneous territory of this nerve branch;
Symptoms of stange tactile hypoesthesia include “numbness” and “tingling”.
The generic term neuropathic pain (IASP International Association for the Study of Pain), does not encourage the naming of the damaged cutaneous nerve branch. As a result, too many patients do not benefit from a lesion diagnosis or neuroanatomical treatment.
Summary
When a patient suffers persistent pain, he or she is most likely suffering from Aβ axonal lesions (98%; n=4010) of one of the body's 240 cutaneous branches, which generate hypoesthesia and intermittent, if not incessant, neuralgia.
[1] Formally, since May 2023: Spine-related leg pain (Schmid et al, PAIN®)
