Prophylactic Pregabalin Treatment Following Spinal Cord Injury

About this trial

This trial is enrolling 50 individuals with recent spinal cord injury (less than 2 months) to test if giving of a drug, Pregabalin (Lyrica), early after injury can prevent development of central neuropathic pain (a neurological condition that can occur after an injury to the brain or spinal cord and have painful sensation of electric current, burning, numbness, tingling, pricking, or squeezing). This affects how you feel pain - you may have pain at rest, be hypersensitive to painful stimuli or feel pain in response to normally non-painful stimuli). This condition often has severe effects and can be difficult to treat. Individuals will be included only if they have not yet developed pain. If included, two thirds of the participants will receive Pregabalin daily for 3 months. One third (the control group) will not receive the drug. Final testing for pain development will be performed after 1 year. If neuropathic pain is diagnosed, everyone will receive pregabalin regardless of which group a participant was initially assigned to. If the pain persists, the drug therapy may change according to the provider (usual care).