neuralgia

Neuralgia is one of the common symptoms in neurology. This type of pain refers to pain perceived in the absence of external stimulation, also known as spontaneous pain. There are many types of spontaneous pain, which can be classified according to the site of the lesion into peripheral neuropathic pain and central neuropathic pain. Those with unknown etiology are termed primary neuralgia, while those with a clear cause are termed secondary (or symptomatic) neuralgia. The lesion site may be in the nerve root, nerve plexus, or nerve trunk. It is often named after the peripheral nerve involved in the lesion. Local pain caused by other local lesions stimulating peripheral receptors, and somatic pain resulting from lesions in the sensory conduction pathways of the central nervous system, generally do not fall within the category of neuralgia. Neuralgia is broadly divided into two categories according to the site of the lesion: I. Peripheral neuropathic pain 1. Trigeminal neuralgia — commonly seen in inflammatory infiltration, compression due to atherosclerosis, and cerebellopontine angle tumors, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, trigeminal ganglion tumors, chordoma, multiple sclerosis, etc. 2. Sphenopalatine ganglion neuralgia, vidian neuralgia, geniculate ganglion neuralgia Seen in paranasal sinusitis, sphenoid sinusitis, ethmoid sinusitis, nasal structural deformities, deviated nasal septum causing mechanical compression of the middle turbinate, skull base fractures, metastatic carcinoma, herpes zoster virus infection, etc. 3. Greater occipital neuralgia Commonly seen in neuritis, upper respiratory tract infection, influenza, malaria, rheumatic disease, diabetes, thyroid disease, alcohol and lead poisoning, occipital and cervical trauma, cervical spondylosis, rheumatoid spondylitis or metastatic carcinoma, basilar invagination, stenosis of the foramen magnum, atlanto-occipital fusion, atlantoaxial dislocation, incomplete segmentation of the upper cervical vertebral bodies, Arnold-Chiari malformation, intraspinal tumors, tumors of the foramen magnum region, adhesive spinal arachnoiditis, syringomyelia, injury to the suboccipital joint ligaments, fractures of the anterior and posterior arches of the atlas, atlantoaxial subluxation, cervical muscle injury, etc. 4. Intercostal neuralgia Commonly seen in infectious and toxic radiculitis, pleurisy, chronic pneumonia, aortic aneurysm, mitral stenosis, thoracic organ diseases, spinal lesions such as thoracic vertebral tuberculosis, tumors, ankylosing spondylitis, spinal cord tumors, spinal cord inflammation, rib tumors, rib fractures, callus formation, and herpes zoster. 5. Cervicobrachial neuralgia, brachial plexus neuritis — commonly seen in cervical spondylosis, cervical masses, tumors, herpes zoster, influenza, typhus, malaria and other infections, exposure to cold, and inoculation with heterologous serum vaccines.