PAIN FOLLOWING SPINAL-CORD INJURY

Some patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) complain of severe pain. T he purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and classif ication of SCI-related pain, in terms of severity, location, aggravati ng and alleviating factors. 47 SCI individuals were studied between 15 and 67 years of age. Sixty-one percent of subjects experienced pain o f moderate to severe intensity. 32 subjects complained of pain in the lower limbs, five patients had pain in the visceral region, eight in t he pelvic and perineal areas. The pain duration was for a median of 5 weeks. The patients with pain were older (median 41 years) than those without pain (median 23 years). Pain was reported to be more intense i n the evening and at night. The incidence of pain was higher in patien ts with thoracolumbar and incomplete spinal cord lesions. Inactivity, stress, weather change, overactivity were identified as aggravating fa ctors. Sleep and rest were demonstrated as alleviating factors.