@article {Majedi292, author = {Hossein Majedi and Mahdi Safdarian and Marzieh Hajiaghababaei and Alexander R. Vaccaro and Vafa Rahimi-Movaghar}, title = {Characteristics of neuropathic pain in individuals with chronic spinal cord injury}, volume = {23}, number = {4}, pages = {292--300}, year = {2018}, doi = {10.17712/nsj.2018.4.20180223}, publisher = {Neurosciences Journal}, abstract = {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{\textpm}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 {\textquoteleft}maximal pain intensity{\textquoteright}, {\textquoteleft}overall pain intensity during the past week{\textquoteright}, and {\textquoteleft}the pain intensity at the initial consultation in pain clinic{\textquoteright} measured by numerical rating scale (NRS) in this cohort were 8.71{\textpm}1.73, 6.32{\textpm}1.60, and 6.11{\textpm}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.}, URL = {https://nsj.org.sa/content/23/4/292}, eprint = {https://nsj.org.sa/content/23/4/292.full.pdf}, journal = {Neurosciences Journal} }