Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40528843›Full record

ArticlePain reports2025

Brivaracetam for spinal cord injury-related neuropathic pain: results of a pilot double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

Leslie R Morse, Ricardo A Battaglino, Nguyen Nguyen, Brian DeVries, Abigail Welch, Ana Lucia Battaglino, Clas Linnman, Michael Stillman, Robert Wudlick, Joda Glossner and 3 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Pain reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Leslie R MorseChristine E. Lynn Rehabilitation Center, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA.
Ricardo A BattaglinoChristine E. Lynn Rehabilitation Center, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA.
Nguyen NguyenDepartment of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Brian DeVriesChristine E. Lynn Rehabilitation Center, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA.
Abigail WelchCraig Rehabilitation Hospital, Englewood, CO, USA.
Ana Lucia BattaglinoDepartment of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Clas LinnmanSpaulding Neuroimaging Laboratory, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
Michael StillmanSidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Robert WudlickDepartment of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Joda GlossnerChristine E. Lynn Rehabilitation Center, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA.
Grant AndertonRxArtisans Compounding Pharmacy, Wayzata, MN, USA.
Richard GoldsteinChristine E. Lynn Rehabilitation Center, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA.
Scott P FalciSwedish Hospital, Englewood, CO, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Objective: Assess feasibility, safety, and tolerability of 3 months of oral brivaracetam for severe (9-10/10) spinal cord injury-related neuropathic pain. Methods: We conducted a multisite pilot study where adults were randomized to 3 months of brivaracetam (100 mg BID) or placebo. Pain was assessed via the Brief Pain Inventory, the International Spinal Cord Injury Pain Basic Dataset (version 2.0), and a daily pain diary. Results: We enrolled 24 participants across 2 sites and 14 participants were included in the final analysis (n = 8 placebo, n = 6 brivaracetam). The drug was tolerated with expected, nonserious side effects (nausea if taken on an empty stomach, fatigue that improved after 2-3 days). Side effects were more common in the brivaracetam group (73%, n = 8 vs 33%, n = 3). We observed a mean 2.7-point reduction in daily worst pain in the brivaracetam group compared to a 1.0-point reduction in the placebo group. The percentage of participants experiencing 30% (100% vs 60%) and 50% (60% vs 12.5%) pain reduction was greater in the brivaracetam group. Conclusions: These findings suggest safety, tolerability, and feasibility of brivaracetam for treating neuropathic pain in spinal cord injury. These pilot findings will be used to power future efficacy clinical trials.

Indexed as

Clinical trialNeuropathic painRehabilitationSpinal cord injuryTherapeutics

Identifiers

PMID40528843
PMCPMC12173286

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.