Prevalence and characteristics of neuropathic pain in leprosy patients treated years ago

Ramos, José Manuel; Alonso-Castañeda, Beatriz; Eshetu, Dejene; Lemma, Deriba; Reyes, Fernando; Belinchón, Isabel; Górgolas, Miguel

doi:10.1179/2047773214y.0000000140

Cited by 22 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…16,21,29 As neurological impairment, leprosy reactions are considered risk factors to NP and occurred in 32 (76%) cases. 17,22 Even more prevalent in our evaluation, a history of type 2 reactions also showed a significant association. 20,22 Previous studies have found that neural thickening takes place from 45.5% to more than 90% of all cases, which is comparable to the 60% found in the present study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 53%

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Clinical and Neurophysiological Features of Leprosy Patients with Neuropathic Pain

Giesel

Pitta

Silveira

et al. 2018

The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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Neural pain is a frequent symptom in leprosy disease. There is a paucity of data regarding neural pain diagnostics resulting in common prescriptive errors when neuritis is confused with neuropathic or mixed nociceptive-neuropathic pain. The present study identified important demographic, clinical, and neurophysiological features of 42 leprosy neuropathy patients presenting neuropathic pain (NP). During routine evaluations, patients were selected asking if they had ever experienced neural pain. Data analyses of their pain characteristics, clinical examination results, and both the Douleur Neuropathique 4 Questionnaire and Hamilton Depression Scale scores were used to classify these patients. The most common word they used to describe the sensation of pain for 25 (60%) of these patients was "burning." In the early stages of the disease and before leprosy diagnosis, 19 (45%) had already complained about NP and leprosy treatment was unable to prevent its occurrence in 15 (36%). Leprosy reactions, considered NP risk factors, occurred in 32 (76%) cases. Knowledge of typical NP characteristics could be used to develop more effective therapeutic approaches for a notoriously difficult-to-treat pain condition.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 53%

“…The occurrence of NP in leprosy has been comprehensively reviewed. The resulting data can range anywhere from 17% to 70.3% among all neuropathy leprosy patients according to both Haroun et al 16 and Ramos et al 17 , respectively. In our Leprosy Outpatient Clinic, the estimation is 15%.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Clinical and Neurophysiological Features of Leprosy Patients with Neuropathic Pain

Giesel

Pitta

Silveira

et al. 2018

The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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“…This questionnaire was chosen because of its ease of use, its sensitivity (83%) and its precision (90%) in predicting the presence of pain with the characteristics of neuropathy 11 .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diagnosis and medical treatment of neuropathic pain in leprosy

Arco¹,

Nardi

Bassi³

et al. 2016

Rev. Latino-Am. Enfermagem

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Objective: to identify the difficulties in diagnosing and treating neuropathic pain caused by leprosy and to understand the main characteristics of this situation. Methods: 85 patients were treated in outpatient units with reference to leprosy and the accompanying pain. We used a questionnaire known as the Douleur Neuropathic 4 test and we conducted detailed neurological exams. As a result, 42 patients were excluded from the study for not having proved their pain. Results: Out of the 37 patients that experienced pain, 22 (59.5%) had neuropathic pain (or a mixture of this pain and their existing pain) and of these 90.8% considered this pain to be moderate or severe. 81.8% of the sample suffered with this pain for more than 6 months. Only 12 (54.5%) of the patients had been diagnosed with neuropathic pain and in almost half of these cases, this pain had not been diagnosed. With reference to medical treatment (n=12) for neuropathic pain, 5 (41.6%) responded that they became better. For the other 7 (58.4%) there were no changes in relation to the pain or in some cases the pain worsened in comparison to their previous state. Statistical analysis comparing improvements in relation to the pain amongst the patients that were treated (n=12) and those that were not, showed significant differences (value p=0.020). Conclusion: we noted difficulties in diagnosing neuropathic pain for leprosy in that almost half of the patients that were studied had not had their pain diagnosed. We attributed this to some factors such as the non-adoption of the appropriate protocols which led to inadequate diagnosis and treatment that overlooked the true picture.

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“…A cross-sectional study with leprosy patients treated for at least five years in a rural area of Ethiopia has shown that 70.3% have reported symptoms suggestive of NP 34 . A study carried out in India has shown that 21% of leprosy patients also had NP, being that 95.5% had sensory impairment and 50% motor impairment.…”

Section: Np Is Recognized As Late Leprosy Complicationmentioning

confidence: 99%