A new rat model of neuropathic pain: complete brachial plexus avulsion.

Brachial plexus avulsion (BPA) is one of the major injuries in motor vehicle accidents and may result in neuropathic pain. Accumulating evidence suggests that 30-80% of BPA developed neuropathic pain in human. In our study, complete brachial plexus avulsion (C5-T1) rats model leads to the results that 37.5% of rats had long-lasting (up to 6 months) mechanical allodynia and cold allodynia. We observed the activation of astrocyte and microglial in cervical spinal cord after BPA. Complete brachial plexus avulsion mimics human nerve root traction injury following traffic accidents. The complete BPA rat model approach human injuries and can be used for further investigations.