Paliatívna medicína a liečba bolesti 2/2008

Treatment of painful syndromes (part 1): Central Painful Syndromes

Central pain presents pain syndrome induced by central nervous system lesion. Most often it occurs after spinal trauma and stroke, or as a symptom of multiple sclerosis, syringomyelia or postradiation myelopathy. The main structure for central pain formation is spinothalamic pathway. Pain can develop immediately after injury, or with latency of months or years. Most effective treatment is based on use of antidepressants and anticonvulsants. Transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation is often used and for resistant cases neurosurgical treatment is possible.

Keywords: central pain, spinothalamic pathway, poststroke pain, multiple sclerosis, spinal trauma.