Characteristics of neuropathic pain in individuals with chronic spinal cord injury

OBJECTIVES: To present the characteristics of neuropathic pain in individuals with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI). METHODS: We recruited all individuals with chronic SCI referred to the Brain and Spine Injury Research center with a diagnosis of neuropathic pain from April 2013 to September 2015 into this historical cohort study. RESULTS: Forty individuals with chronic SCI-induced neuropathic pain entered this study with a mean age of 43.67±13.12 years and a majority of who were male (n=30, 75%). Motor vehicle collision (n=25, 62.5%) and fall (n=7, 17.5%) were the most common causes of SCI in our participants. There were 13 (32.5%) cervical, twenty (50%) thoracic, and 7 (17.5%) lumbosacral SCI. The mean ‘maximal pain intensity’, ‘overall pain intensity during the past week’, and ‘the pain intensity at the initial consultation in pain clinic’ measured by numerical rating scale (NRS) in this cohort were 8.71±1.73, 6.32±1.60, and 6.11±2.48, respectively. Burning pain was the most frequently used description of pain reported by our participants. Pain intensity significantly decreased after six months of treatment for all three above categories. CONCLUSION: This study provides characteristics of neuropathic pain in a group of individuals with chronic SCI. Further large prospective studies are needed to determine the association between lesion level, completeness of injury, and region of pain.