Below level central pain induced by discrete dorsal spinal cord injury.

Central neuropathic pain occurs with multiple sclerosis, stroke, and spinal cord injury (SCI). Models of SCI are commonly used to study central neuropathic pain and are excellent at modeling gross physiological changes. Our goal was to develop a rat model of central neuropathic pain by traumatizing a discrete region of the dorsal spinal cord, thereby avoiding issues including paralysis, urinary tract infection, and autotomy.

Dorsal root entry zone microcoagulation for spinal cord injury-related central pain: operative intramedullary electrophysiological guidance and clinical outcome.

Object: Surgically created lesions of the spinal cord dorsal root entry zone (DREZ) to relieve central pain after spinal cord injury (SCI) have historically resulted in modest outcomes. A review of the literature indicates that fair to good relief of pain is achieved in approximately 50% of patients when an empirical procedure is performed. This study was undertaken to determine if intramedullary electrical guidance in DREZ lesioning could improve outcomes in patients with SCI-induced central pain.