A Review of Adult and Pediatric Neuropathic Pain Assessment Tools

Abstract

Objectives: 

To identify and summarize the tools currently available for diagnosing and assessing neuropathic pain (NP) in adults and children and to identify areas where further research is required to address deficiencies in the existing tools.

Methods: 

A review of journal articles pertaining to the diagnosis and assessment of NP was conducted.

Results: 

We identified 11 tools for assessing NP in adults and 4 for assessing NP in pediatric patients.

Conclusions: 

This article summarizes the various screening and assessment tools available to clinicians for evaluating NP. Despite the availability of the 15 tools discussed, a deficiency remains, particularly in the pediatric realm. To date, there is no well-validated NP assessment tool for children younger than 5 years, no pediatric NP screening tool that has been validated outside the domain of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, and no consistent recommendation regarding the optimal tool to use with pediatric patients who have chronic pain. These areas, as well as others, would benefit from further research and development.