Allodynia and hyperalgesia are common and bothersome symptoms in patients with pain due to a disease or injury of the nervous system.
Definition
Allodynia is pain due to a stimulus that does not normally elicit pain.
Hyperalgesia is increased pain from a stimulus that normally provokes pain.
Clinical manifestations
- Allodynia and hyperalgesia are clinical terms that do not imply a mechanism.
- The clinical presentation differs between the different pain conditions.
- The distribution of allodynia and hyperalgesia is located within, but occasionally extends beyond, the innervation.
- Onset is usually early and may decrease over time following an acute injury but may increase over time in slowly progressing neuropathic pain conditions. Early hypersensitivity may increase the odds for persistent neuropathic
pain.
References
- Haanpää M, Attal N, Backonja M, Baron R, Bennett M, Bouhassira D, Cruccu G, Hansson P, Haythornthwaite JA, Iannetti GD, Jensen TS, Kauppila T,
Nurmikko TJ, Rice AS, Rowbotham M, Serra J, Sommer C, Smith BH, Treede RD. NeuPSIG guidelines on neuropathic pain assessment. Pain
2001;152:14-27. - Jensen TS, Finnerup NB. Allodynia and hyperalgesia in neuropathic pain: clinical manifestations and mechanisms. Lancet Neurol 2014;13:924-35