1147 - Non-Pharmacologic Pain Treatments Perceived as Superior to Pharmacologic Pain Treatments in Early Spinal Cord Injury

Thursday, February 19, 2026

5:00 PM - 6:30 PM AST

Presenting Author(s)

ZR

Zainab Raza, BS

Medical Student
Sam Houston State College of Osteopathic Medicine
Sugar Land, Texas, United States

Co-Author(s)

EA

Emilia Alvarez, MD

Resident Physician
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas, United States

Presenting Author(s)

LH

Lauren Haney, MD

Resident Physician
UT Health Houston
Houston, Texas, United States

Co-Author(s)

EF

Elizabeth R. Felix, PhD

Professor
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Miami, Florida, United States
AS

Argyrios Stampas, MD

Professor, SCIM Research Director
UT Health Houston
Houston, Texas, United States

Submitter(s)

EA

Emilia Alvarez, MD

Resident Physician
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas, United States

Objectives: To recognize patterns in perceived helpfulness of pain treatments among individuals with traumatic spinal cord injury (tSCI) in 1-year post-injury across different etiologies.

Design: A cross-sectional survey about pain management in the past year was performed across six SCI Model System Centers in the United States. A total of 391 adults with tSCI at least 1-year post-injury completed a telephone survey about their pain experiences. Participants were stratified by injury duration and etiology, including vehicular (Vehic), gunshot wound (GSW), falls, sports/recreation-related (Sports-Rec), and other causes (Other). Treatments used in the past year were categorized as pharmacologic (Pharm), non-pharmacologic (Non-Pharm), or procedures/surgeries (Proc/Surg), and rated as helpful or not. Perceived helpfulness was calculated as the percentage of treatments deemed helpful by duration-etiology group.

Results: Among 72 respondents at 1-year post-injury, numbers of participants by etiology were: Vehic (n=33), GSW (n=13), Falls (n=20), Sports-Rec (n=6), Other (n=3). P</span>erceived helpfulness was largely superior in Non-Pharm v Pharm: Vehic 77% v 61%; GSW 78% v 71%; Falls 68% v 51%; Sports-Rec 79% v 80%; Other 58% v 75%. Major differences based on etiology were not appreciated.

Conclusions: Non-Pharm treatments were perceived as superior treatments for pain than pharmacologic treatments 1-year post-tSCI regardless of etiology. Limitations of this study include small subgroups that restrict generalizability and the cross-sectional design that precludes causal inference. A longitudinal study would better capture changes in treatment perceptions over time and across etiologies.