Article

The objective of this study was to identify the differences in
medication effect according to pain characteristics in spinal cord-injured
patients. METHODS: This study is a prospective, randomized, crossover study.
Fifty-five patients and 66 locations of neuropathic pain were included. Pain was
classified into four spontaneous characteristics and three evoked pain
characteristics. Oxcarbazepine (Na channel blocker) and pregabalin (calcium
channel alpha2-delta ligand medication) were tried. Patients were divided into
two groups: evoked pain present and evoked pain absent. Overall average visual
analog scale was obtained. RESULTS: Oxcarbazepine was significantly more
effective for patients without evoked pain than in those with it for electrical,
burning, and pricking pain. The effect of pregabalin was not different regarding
the presence or absence of evoked pain for all pain categories, except burning
pain. In patients with evoked pain, pregabalin was shown to be significantly more
effective for electrical pain, allodynia, and heat hyperalgesia than
oxcarbazepine. In the evoked pain absent group, oxcarbazepine showed greater
improvement than pregabalin but was not significant. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, the
phenotype of neuropathic pain was associated with the efficacy of different
pharmacologic treatments. Symptom-based treatment, therefore, can lead to more
efficient analgesia.

Langue : ANGLAIS