title: Pain during in-patient rehabilitation after traumatic spinal cord injury.
abstract: In this prospective study, we surveyed the pain experience of 40 participants during the in-patient rehabilitation period following traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). Twenty-eight patients (70% of the study population) had musculoskeletal (MS) pain or neuropathic (NP) pain. Pain responded positively to physical therapy and analgesics. A numerical pain scale decreased from a mean of 6.36+/-1.7 on admission to 3.2+/-1.94 on discharge (P<0.001). Paraplegic patients were more likely to have MS pain (P=0.001) and NP pain (P=0.046). There was no relationship between completeness of injury, or spinal surgery, and type of pain encountered. There was also no significant difference in the modified Barthel index between patients with and without pain on admission and discharge. We conclude that pain is a common experience in SCI patients and that it can be reduced significantly by the end of in-patient rehabilitation.
authors.affiliation: Rehabilitation Centre, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, c/o Ang Mo Kio Community Hospital, 17 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 9, Singapore 569766.
authors.forename: E C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Yap
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tow
authors.forename: E B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Menon
authors.forename: K F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: K H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kong
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D059408:Pain Management; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010264:Paraplegia / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation