Principles & Practice of Pain Medicine > Part II. Pain: General Principles and Evaluation > Chapter 9. Role of Electrodiagnostics in Pain Assessment Seward B. Rutkove and Seth H. Lichtenstein

Role of Electrodiagnostics in Pain Assessment: Introduction

"Electrodiagnosis can play a crucial role in identifying the underlying problem in a patient presenting with a pain disorder. Although electrodiagnostic testing is older than some radiologic modalities such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), it provides unique functional information about the integrity of both the central and peripheral nervous systems. In addition to localizing the problem, electrodiagnostic testing can give insight into its chronicity and severity, while often also providing helpful prognostic information. Although minor structural abnormalities may be readily identified on MRI, their clinical significance may be uncertain. For example, disk bulges at multiple levels are routinely found on MRI studies of the lumbar spine. Electrodiagnostic testing has the unique ability to determine whether one of these bulges is actually producing nerve damage. Moreover, such testing may also demonstrate abnormalities in patients with inflammatory lesions, where neuroimaging is often normal...."