Neuropathic pain in diabetic peripheral neuropathy and chronic low back pain syndrome: prevalence and characteristics

<p><strong>Introduction. </strong>Neuropathic pain (NP) is presented with a variety of symptoms, including “positive” (e.g., spontaneous pain, paresthesia, dysesthesia, allodynia, hyperalgesia, tingling, burning) and “negative” (e.g., numbness and loss of sensa<br />tion) features. The most common causes are diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) and chronic low back pain syndrome <br />(CLBPS). This study aimed to determine the frequency and characteristics of NP in these conditions and to evaluate the <br />sensitivity of commonly used diagnostic questionnaires.<br /><strong>Methods.</strong> We examined 80 patients with DPN (40 with and 40 without NP) and 80 patients with CLBPS (40 with and 40 <br />without NP). Assessments included electromyography (EMG), NIS-LL scoring for DPN, MRI of the lumbosacral spine for CLBPS and three NP questionnaires: Pain Detect Questionnaire (PDQ), Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs (LANSS), and Douleur Neuropathique 4 (DN4).<br /><strong>Results. </strong>In DPN, NP was associated with greater disease severity (higher NIS-LL scores), with allodynia being the most dis<br />tinguishing symptom. In CLBPS, key NP characteristics varied across the three questionnaires. Tingling was common in both conditions, regardless of NP status.<br /><strong>Conclusion.</strong> Allodynia is the defining feature of NP in DPN. NP questionnaires demonstrated lower diagnostic accuracy for <br />NP in CLBPS compared to DPN. DN4 demonstrated the highest sensitivity for NP detection.</p>