Pharmacological Management of a Spinal Cord Injury: A Review

Introduction A spinal cord injury results from damage to the cord itself. People who experience such an injury often live with pain for the rest of their lives. This review aims to compare the effectiveness of gabapentin versus tramadol in managing post-spinal cord injury pain. Methods A search using the key terms “spinal cord injury,” “gabapentin,” and “tramadol” was conducted on PubMed. Five relevant results were identified after applying operators and filters to narrow down the articles. Of those five articles, four were reviewed in this analysis. Results All four articles directly compare gabapentin to a test substance. Three of the articles compare tramadol to a test substance. One article does not analyze tramadol, but it does conclude on how tramadol should be used to treat post-spinal cord injury (SCI) pain. Conclusions Overall, gabapentin was found to be a more effective treatment option than tramadol for post-spinal cord injury pain—more research comparing these medications and other treatments is needed before any recommendations can be made.