Pain Management for the Neurosurgeon: Part 1

This first of two issues of Seminars in Neurosurgery on pain management for the neurosurgeon is split roughly between two broad topics: fundamentals and specific syndromes.

The fundamentals discussions revolve around the anatomy and physiology of pain; the multidisciplinary management of pain in the outpatient setting-including the integration of both psychiatric and behavioral therapies into the treatment; and conclude with drug therapy for chronic pain.

The second portion of this issue is devoted to specific syndromes of facial pain, including trigeminal neuralgia, glossopharyngeal neuralgia, and other craniofacial pain syndromes. The theme of neuropathic pain receives in-depth coverage on chronic regional pain syndromes (CRPS), postherpetic neuralgia, pain after spinal cord injury, and phantom limb pain.

The authors have provided an absolutely up-to-date review of all these topics, and I am confident that this text, in conjunction with its companion pieces in the next issue of Seminars in Neurosurgery, could serve as a relatively complete curriculum on neurosurgical pain management for residents, fellows, and practicing neurosurgeons.

I am grateful to the contributors for an outstanding array of articles, and for condensing a vast amount of information into a cogent and readable form.