Table 1.

Types of chronic pain, aetiology and clinical considerations.

Type of Pain	Aetiology	Clinical Considerations
Neuropathic pain/ Radiculopathy	Caused by a lesion or disease of the somatosensory system, including peripheral fibres and central neurons [15], not always associated with a response to external stimulus, pain signalling pathways are damaged.	Ca. 30% of neuropathic pain is caused by diabetes, common in cancer survivors and neurodegenerative diseases. Lumbar and cervical painful radiculopathies often cause neuropathic pain [15]. Sleep disturbances, anxiety and depression are frequent and severe in patients with neuropathic pain [16].
	Blocking of conduction along sensory and motor axons results in loss of nerve function [17,18], compressed or inflamed nerve route leads to loss of function.	Causing pain, loss of sensation, and motor function depending on the severity, lumbosacral radiculopathy is very common [19], e.g., herniated disc with resultant nerve root compression or spondylosis [19].
Radicular pain	Pain radiates from an inflamed or compressed nerve root, not from stimulation of peripheral nerve endings, is not nociceptive pain [17].	Irritation of a sensitized nerve root, usually of a prolapsed intervertebral disc, pain is typically lancinating, shooting down the leg [18].
Nociceptive pain—2 types	Resultant from tissue damage by physical, chemical or traumatic events, injuries or infections [4], pain signalling pathways are intact.
1.Somatic pain	Peripheral areas of the body	Triggered by an acute injury or chronic disease.
2.Visceral pain	Internal organs	Frequently associated with nausea, vomiting, nervousness.