The reported rate did not appear to be related to study quality .
Pain prevalence in the combined sample s did not appreciably differ between males and females , those with complete versus incomplete SCI , and those with paraplegia versus tetraplegia .
We conclude that too much heterogeneity was present in the reports to calculate a post-SCI pain prevalence rate using meta-analytic methods .
Published studies have reported widely divergent estimates of the prevalence of chronic pain among individuals with ( traumatic ) spinal cord injury ( SCI ) .
Pain following spinal cord injury
Some patients with spinal cord injury ( SCI ) complain of severe pain . The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and classification of SCI-related pain , in terms of severity , location , aggravating and alleviating factors . 47 SCI individuals were studied between 15 and 67 years of age . Sixty-one percent of subjects experienced pain of moderate to severe intensity . 32 subjects complained of pain in the lower limbs , five patients had pain in the visceral region , eight in the 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 in the evening and at night . The incidence of pain was higher in patients with thoracolumbar and incomplete spinal cord lesions .  Inactivity , stress , weather change , overactivity were identified as aggravating factors . Sleep and rest were demonstrated as alleviating factors
The reported rate did not appear to be related to study quality .
Pain prevalence in the combined sample s did not appreciably differ between males and females , those with complete versus incomplete SCI , and those with paraplegia versus tetraplegia .
We conclude that too much heterogeneity was present in the reports to calculate a post-SCI pain prevalence rate using meta-analytic methods .
Published studies have reported widely divergent estimates of the prevalence of chronic pain among individuals with ( traumatic ) spinal cord injury ( SCI ) .