We assigned the term Nondermatomal Somatosensory Deficits (NDSDs) to widespread reduction or loss of sensation to touch and pinprick, not conforming to the distribution of peripheral nerves or dermatomes, and often following minor injury or with no known inciting event. The prevalence of NDSDs varies between 25-50 % in chronic pain populations. NDSDs represent intensely dynamic phenomena likely associated with supraspinal mechanisms with remarkable phenomenology, variability, and reversibility. They can occur in the absence of detectable biomedical pathology or coexist with musculoskeletal or neurological injury. Recent functional imaging findings show significant alterations in brain activation patterns in NDSD patients. NDSDs are associated with certain demographic variables and psychological factors and seem to constitute a poor prognostic sign for response to treatment and return to work. Research studies need to explore further the nature and characteristics of NDSDs.
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