RT Book, Section
A1 Raynor, Elizabeth M.
A1 Kleiner-Fisman, Galit
A2 Warfield, Carol A.
A2 Bajwa, Zahid H.
SR Print(0)
ID 3415623
T1 Chapter 37. Polyneuropathy
T2 Principles & Practice of Pain Medicine, 2e
YR 2004
FD 2004
PB The McGraw-Hill Companies
PP New York, NY
SN 9780071443494
LK accessanesthesiology.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=3415623
RD 2024/04/19
AB Painful  polyneuropathy  is  a  debilitating  neurologic  problem  and  frequently  a  challenging  therapeutic  management  issue.  Difficulties  in  managing  patients  are  too  often  the  result  of  poor  understanding  of  their  problem  on  the  part  of  the  treating  physician.  Many  physicians  assume  that  there  is  no  need  to  work  up  neuropathy  because  the  final  outcome  is  likely  to  be  an  idiopathic,  axonal  disorder  for  which  there  is  no  effective  therapy.  In  fact,  many  neuropathies  are  responsive  to  immunosuppressive  therapies.  Although  responses  to  such  therapy  constitute  the  minority,  they  should  be  vigorously  sought  before  telling  patients  there  is  no  treatment  for  their  progressive  disorder.  In  many  cases,  treatment  of  the  polyneuropathy  also  leads  to  improved  pain  control;  however,  pain  is  often  a  primary  issue  in  and  of  itself  and  must  be  treated  irrespective  of  the  potential  for  improvement  of  the  underlying  polyneuropathy.  In  these  cases,  pain  management  specialists  may  work  in  concert  with  neurologists  to  provide  a  comprehensive  treatment  approach.