- Hyperpathia
Hyperpathia is a
clinical symptom of certain neurological disorders wherein the patient experiences a greatly exaggerated pain sensation tonociceptive stimuli . This can be contrasted fromallodynia in which the patient feels painful sensations from stimuli which are not painful to normal individuals.Mechanism
Hyperpathia describes the
neuropathic pain which thepain threshold on one hand is elevated and the other hand is central hyperexcited whenever there is a loss of fibres. Hyperpathia is underlying the peripheral or central deafferentation when the afferent inputs are lost. [Jensen, T. S. (1996). Mechanisms of neuropathic pain. In J. N. Campbell (Ed.), Pain, 1996, an updated review. (pp. 77-86). Seattle: IASP Press] Hyperpathia only occurs on neuropathic pain patients with the loss of fibres.The International Association of the Study of Pain’s (IASP) definition of hyperpathia is that: "A painful syndrome characterized by an abnormally painful reaction to a stimulus, "especially a repetitive stimulus, as well as an increased threshold." The definition also complies with a note which is: "It may occur with
allodynia ,hyperesthesia ,hyperalgesia , ordysesthesia . Faulty identification and localization of the stimulus, delay, radiating sensation, and after-sensation may be present, and the pain is often explosive in character. The changes in this note are the specification ofallodynia and the inclusion ofhyperalgesia explicitly. Previouslyhyperalgesia was implied, sincehyperesthesia was mentioned in the previous note andhyperalgesia is a special case ofhyperesthesia ". [(I.A.S.P, 1986). Pain Supplement 3: Classification of Chronic Pain, Descriptions of Chronic Pain Syndromes and Definitions of Pain Terms. Amsterdam: Elsevier.]References
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