Pain resulting from direct trauma to the peripheral or central nervous system is called what?

• A. Neuropathic pain
• B. Nociceptive pain
• C. Referred pain
• D. Psychogenic pain

Answer: (A)

Neuropathic pain is pain that results from injury or dysfunction of the somatosensory nervous system itself, meaning the nerves outside or inside the central nervous system have been damaged. This is different from nociceptive pain, which arises when tissue damage activates intact nociceptors. Neuropathic pain often presents as burning, shooting, or electric- shock–like sensations and may feature allodynia (pain from normally nonpainful stimuli) or hyperalgesia. It can persist even after the initial injury heals and includes examples like post-traumatic nerve injuries, phantom limb pain, postherpetic neuralgia, or central pain after a stroke. Treatments often focus on neuromodulators (such as certain anticonvulsants or antidepressants) rather than typical anti-inflammatory or opioid approaches. Referred pain and psychogenic pain involve different mechanisms: referred pain is felt at a distance from the actual source due to shared neural pathways, and psychogenic pain involves psychological factors without a clear neurophysiological cause.