Internationale Zeitschrift für Physikalische Medizin und Rehabilitation
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Neuropathic Pain in Patients with Spinal Cord Injury

Sevgi Ikbali Afsar, Sacide Nur Saracgil Cosar, Oya Umit Yemisci and Nuri Cetin

Background: The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of neuropathic pain in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) during rehabilitation and follow-up, and to examine the relationship between neuropathic pain and the demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients. Methods: The medical records of 93 patients who were admitted to our inpatient rehabilitation hospital with a diagnosis of SCI were evaluated. Patients with neuropathic pain were contacted by telephone after discharge and questioned whether the pain continued and whether they were on any medication. Results: The mean age was 38.73 ± 15 years. Thirty-two percent of the group consisted of women. Based on neurological levels, 28 (30.4%) patients were tetraplegic, 49 (53.3%) were paraplegic and 15 (16.3%) had conuscauda equina injury. Sixty-four patients (68.8%) had complete lesions and 28 patients had incomplete lesions (The American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale (AIS) grade B-D). Neuropathic pain was present in 49 (52.7%) and absent in 44 (47.3%) patients during their hospital stay. While a statistically significant difference was found between the groups in terms of gender, there was no such difference for mean age, SCI etiology, neurological level and AIS grade (p=0.021, p=0.151, p=0.368, p=0.686, p=0.340). During follow-up, the pain continued in 36 (78.3%) patients and had resolved in 10 (21.7%) patients. The daily living activities were affected in 23 (55%) patients. When we questioned the treatment in the neuropathic pain group, 28 (77.8%) of the patients did not take any medication for neuropathic pain while 8 (22.2%) were on related medication. Conclusion: Taking into account that neuropathic pain is an important factor that affects daily living activities, SCI patients should be evaluated in detail to determine the characteristic of any pain, and the medical treatment prescribed to the patient should be closely monitored.