High prevalence of neuropathic pain in the hand of patients with traumatic brachial plexus injury: a cross-sectional study.

Objective: To describe the pain profile of patients with traumatic brachial plexus injury.

Methods: We enrolled 65 patients with traumatic brachial plexus injury. The Douleur Neuropathique 4 questionnaire was used to classify pain and the SF-36 was used to evaluate quality of life.

Neuropathic pain after brachial plexus avulsion--central and peripheral mechanisms.

Review: The pain that commonly occurs after brachial plexus avulsion poses an additional burden on the quality of life of patients already impaired by motor, sensory and autonomic deficits. Evidence-based treatments for the pain associated with brachial plexus avulsion are scarce, thus frequently leaving the condition refractory to treatment with the standard methods used to manage neuropathic pain. Unfortunately, little is known about the pathophysiology of brachial plexus avulsion.