Objective:
This scoping review will identify complementary alternative medicine methods used to manage spinal cord injury–related pain.
Introduction:
Spinal cord injury–related pain is common, with a third of individuals experiencing severe pain. Conventional interventions are well documented, however, pain relief remains elusive for people with spinal cord injuries. Although complementary alternative medicine is available to alleviate various health problems, little is known about the complementary alternative medicine methods used to manage pain in people with spinal cord injuries.
Inclusion criteria:
This review will consider all studies on complementary alternative medicine treatment methods used by adults with spinal cord injury to treat their associated pain. The concept of interest in this study is complementary alternative medicine. Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods studies, text and opinion papers as well as systematic reviews will be included in this review.
Methods:
A three-step search strategy, consisting of an initial limited search, a full search, and a screening of the reference lists of all included articles will be undertaken. Key information sources to be searched include CINAHL, Cochrane Library, JBI Evidence Synthesis, MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, DynaMed, Natural Medicines, HerbMed, Open Dissertations, and OpenGrey. All titles and abstracts of identified citations will be screened and then uploaded to a reference management program. The full text of studies potentially meeting the inclusion criteria will be assessed in detail, and relevant data will be extracted and reported in tabular format, in line with the objectives and scope of the review.
Correspondence: Mokgadi Kholofelo Mashola, kholofelo.mashola@wits.ac.za
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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