Siddall et al. (1997) noted that one of the concerns regarding SCI-related pain was a lack of consensus over a classification system for SCI pain.  This has led to considerable variation in incidence and prevalence rates for pain post SCI depending on the classification system used.  Twenty-eight (28) classification schemes have been published between 1947 and 2000.   A Task Force on Pain Following Spinal Cord Injury of the International Association for the Study of Pain has introduced a taxonomy, which classified SCI pain based on presumed etiology (Burchiel and Hsu 2001, Siddall 2000).

Table: Proposed IASP Classification of Pain Related to SCI (Burchiel & Hsu 2001)

Table: SCI pain types according to major classification

Table: Reliability of SCI pain classification systems

A new International Classification of Spinal Cord Injury Pain (ICSCIP) has been proposed.  This new classification aims to be more comprehensive in the types of pain directly related to or commonly found in individuals with SCI.