Chronic Pancreatitis is a neuropathic pain condition 

There is no satisfying explanation for the generation of neuropathic pain in CP, and the authors state:

that it is becoming increasingly clear that an effective pain treatment in CP can probably not be achieved without consideration of the exact fate of intrapancreatic nerves and central neuroplastic alterations.

^[1]

In CP abnormal findings are increased neural density and hypertrophy and pancreatic neuritis.^[2] Even intrapancreatic glia prliferation has been found:

The quality of intrapancreatic nerve fibers and the activation state of intrapancreatic glia in CP and PCa are strikingly different from those in normal pancreas. This novel phenomenon of "neural remodeling" shows how pancreatic neuropathic pain and "visceral neuropathy" are associated with altered pancreatic innervation in CP. ^[3]

Thus CP clearly belongs to the class of neuropathic pain syndromes.

Jan M. Keppel Hesselink, MD, PhD, june 2010 

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