Results
The mean age was 32.03 (SD: 6.7) years, the mean time duration between
the SCI and referral to our group was 8.8 (SD: 2.3) months. The SCI area
was cervical, thoracal, and thoracolumbar in 13, 5, and 9 patients,
respectively. Neuropathic pain was prevalent in lower extremities in 15
patients while in both upper and lower extremities in 12 patients. The
cause of the SCI was motor vehicle accident in 12 patients, falls in 9
patients, recreational injuries in 3 patients, sport injuries in 2
patients, and a gunshot injury in one patient.
We observed significant amelioration in terms of patient-reported
numbers of daily incontinence episodes as well as increased maximal
bladder volumes and decreased maximal detrusor pressures in urodynamic
studies in a total of 11 (40.17%) patients in our cohort. A significant
decrease in the VAS scores for the neuropathic pain was also observed in
this group.
The unresponsive patient group comprised 16 patients who were also found
to have benefit from the gabapentin add-on treatment in terms of the
amelioration of the neuropathic pain, which was apparent in comparison
between the pre- and post-treatment VAS scores. However, the urodynamic
results and the number of the incontinence episodes did not show a
significant difference in these patients. These patients were referred
for Botulinum Toxin injection to the bladder wall.
The clinical data of the study group is summarized in Table 1.