Central sensitization and pain after spinal cord injury

Abstract

Spinal cord injuries (SCIs) result in a devastating loss of function below the level of the lesion in which there are variable levels of motor recovery and, in most cases, central neuropathic pain syndromes (CNPs) develop several months to years after injury. Unfortunately, the study of chronic pain after SCI has been neglected due in part to the lack of appropriate animal models, but largely due to the clinically held belief that CNP is not a real phenomenon and is psychogenic in nature, rather than based on pathophysiologic mechanisms. The purpose of this study is to present standardized terminology of pain, offer insight into animal modeling issues of CNP, provide descriptions of the current clinical therapies, and examine the pathophysiologic mechanisms that provide the substrate for CNP that will lead to innovative new therapies. This information will provide new insights for health-care professionals for better care not only of SCI patients but also many other CNP syndromes.