Advances in the Treatment of Neuropathic Pain

Neuropathic pain is pain that arises as a direct consequence of a lesion or diseases affecting the somatosensory system. Treatments for neuropathic pain include pharmacological, nonpharmacological, and interventional therapies. Currently recommended first-line pharmacological treatments include antidepressants and anticonvulsants (gabapentin and pregabalin). However, in some cases, pharmacological therapy alone fails to give adequate control of the chronic pain. New techniques have been invented and have been proved effective on neuropathic pain, such as behavioral, cognitive, integrative, and physical therapies. In this review, we focused on the advances in the treatment of central neuropathic pain, diabetic peripheral neuropathy, postherpetic neuralgia, and cancer pain.