Perspectives on Management of Severe Neuropathic Pain after Spinal Cord Injury
Abstract
Chronic neuropathic pain is common after a spinal cord injury (SCI), with about two-thirds of all persons with SCI reporting persistent pain despite available treatments. Severe chronic neuropathic pain after injury causes additional burdens over and above other medical consequences of SCI itself and is therefore associated with significantly lower general health and well-being, and with higher levels of depression. As one Veteran says about his pain: "Yeah the pain, the pain take a lot from my life. It, it really take a lot from my life,"; "...sometimes it can become overwhelming, the pain, but um like I say I keep telling myself you have to keep going, you have to keep going." Although chronic pain after SCI has been the topic of many basic and clinical research studies, the inadequate management of neuropathic pain continues to be a significant problem and an important unmet need after SCI. In order to overcome the barriers to more successful management of severe neuropathic pain, we need to increase our understanding of patients and their significant others needs, treatment concerns and beliefs, and what their expectations and experiences are regarding barriers and facilitators to successful pain control. Moreover, we need to better understand the needs, concerns, and preferences of healthcare providers regarding their roles in managing severe neuropathic pain after SCI pain. The proposed study expands on our previous findings and focuses on areas where important and critical knowledge gaps exist, i.e., the perspectives of the person with SCI and severe neuropathic pain, their significant others, and healthcare providers regarding perceived barriers and facilitators to optimal pain control of severe neuropathic pain after SCI. The proposed study will integrate these perspectives with the goal of finding new paths to overcome these barriers. Due to current and past international conflicts, there has been an increase in active military personnel and Veterans who have sustained SCI. Most of these persons will develop chronic pain within the first year after injury, and a large proportion of these pains will be severe and life-long conditions. We expect that the results of this study will benefit people with SCI who experience severe neuropathic pain after their injury in multiple ways. In order to overcome barriers to optimal management of severe neuropathic pain after SCI, the perspectives of not only persons with SCI, but also their significant others and healthcare providers need to be considered. Education regarding pain and its treatment options including non-pharmacological and self-remedies may indirectly reduce pain by increasing health-related life control. We propose to develop an educational document that can be utilized by people with SCI and their significant others at any time during the course of SCI. In addition, this tool can be used by healthcare providers as part of an interdisciplinary approach to management of neuropathic pain after SCI.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Mar 29, 2016
- Source ID
- W81XWH1510602
Entities
People
- Eva Widerstrom-noga
Organizations
- United States Army
- University of Miami