Nociplastic pain
posted 7th January 2023
Pain phenotyping is a challenging issue. Three mechanistic pain descriptors have been identified including nociceptive, neuropathic and nociplastic pain
The IASP has defined nociplastic pain as pain that arises from altered nociception despite no clear evidence of actual or threatened tissue damage causing the activation of peripheral nociceptors or evidence for disease or lesion of the somatosensory system causing the pain
Nociplastic pain is the third mechanistic descriptor of chronic pain and refers to the pain resulting from the maintenance of central sensitization mechanisms
Central sensitization is neurophysiological mechanism, defined as amplification of neural signalling within the central nervous system that elicits pain hypersensitivity
Nociplastic pain is mechanistically distinct from nociceptive pain, which is caused by ongoing inflammation and damage of tissues, and neuropathic pain, which is caused by nerve damage
The mechanisms that underlie this type of pain are not entirely understood, but it is thought that augmented CNS pain and sensory processing and altered pain modulation play prominent roles
Nociplastic pain is the same as Neuroplastic pain
Both are forms of Chronic primary pain