Systematic Review.Formalized terminology for pain experienced by spine cancer patients
is lacking. The common descriptors of spine cancer pain as mechanical or non-mechanical
is not exhaustive. Misdiagnosed spinal pain may lead to ineffective treatment recommendations
for cancer patients.We conducted a systematic review of pain terminology that may
be relevant to spinal oncology patients. We provide a comprehensive and unbiased summary
of the existing evidence, not limited to the spine surgery literature, and subsequently
consolidate these data into a practical, clinically relevant nomenclature for spine
oncologists.Our literature search identified 3515 unique citations. Through title
and abstract screening, 3407 citations were excluded, resulting in 54 full-text citations
for review. Pain in cancer patients is typically described as nociceptive pain (somatic
vs visceral), neurologic pain and treatment related pain.We consolidate the terminology
used in the literature and consolidated into clinically relevant nomenclature of biologic
tumor pain, mechanical pain, radicular pain, neuropathic pain, and treatment related
pain. This review helps standardize terminology for cancer-related pain which may
help clinicians identify pain generators.
