Brain Neurorehabil.  2018 Mar;11(1):e7. 10.12786/bn.2018.11.e7.

Central Pain Due to Traumatic Axonal Injury of the Spinothalamic Tract in Patients with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

• Jang SH
• Kwon YH

• KMID: 2408843
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.12786/bn.2018.11.e7

Abstract

Central pain, a neuropathic pain caused by an injury or dysfunction of the central nervous system, is a common, annoying sequela of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Clarification of the pathogenetic mechanism of central pain is mandatory for precise diagnosis, proper management, and prognosis prediction. The introduction of diffusion tensor imaging allowed assessment of the association of the central pain and injury of the spinothalamic tract (STT), and traumatic axonal injury (TAI) in mTBI. In this review, 6 diffusion tensor tractography studies on central pain due to TAI of the STT in patients with mTBI are reviewed. The diagnostic approach for TAI of the STT in individual patients with mTBI is discussed, centering around the methods that these studies employed to demonstrate TAI of the STT.

Keyword

Diffusion Tensor Imaging; Pain; Spinothalamic Tracts; Traumatic Brain Injury; Cerebral Concussion

MeSH Terms

Axons*
Brain Concussion
Brain Injuries*
Central Nervous System
Diagnosis
Diffusion
Diffusion Tensor Imaging
Humans
Neuralgia
Prognosis
Spinothalamic Tracts*