Background and Objectives: Damage to peripheral nerves provokes chronic neuropathic pain that lasts beyond the duration of the nerve injury. The presence of pain signs have been reported in areas other than those attributed to the injured nerve, i.e., in contralateral regions.
We evaluated the presence, magnitude, and chronology of mechanical and cold allodynia in the contralateral paw of rats undergoing unilateral ligation of the L5 and L6 spinal nerves.
Methods: Twenty-three male Sprague-Dawley rats underwent spinal nerve ligation of the left L5 and L6 spinal nerves (SNL group) and 7 rats received a sham surgery without nerve ligation (sham group). Signs of mechanical allodynia as ...