Effectiveness of Controlled-Release Morphine for Chronic Neuropathic Pain After Spinal Cord Injury

Inclusion Criteria: * Age 18 - 65 * Diagnosis of traumatic spinal cord injury * Neuropathic pain (pain related to the nervous system) rated at least 4 on a 11-point numeric rating scale at the time of screening * Pain classified as at level radicular pain (ALRP), at level central pain (ALCP) or below level central pain (BLCP). * Pain that is present regularly for at least 3 months prior to enrollment, in spite of medication or other pain treatment. This pain can be paroxysmal in nature (attacks of pain). * Ability to understand instructions and reliably provide pain assessments * Willingness to stop current opioid medications, if any * If a female with childbearing potential, using an approved method of birth control (intrauterine device (IUD), barrier protection, a contraceptive implantation system or injection (Norplant® or Depo-Provera®), oral contraceptive pills, or celibacy) Exclusion Criteria: * A known sensitivity to opioids * A history of substance or alcohol abuse within the past 2 years * A need for elective surgery involving preoperative or postoperative analgesics or anesthetics during the study period * Other chronic pain that cannot be differentiated from ALCP, ALRP, or BLCP * A history of active cancer, excluding basal carcinoma of the skin, in the past 3 years * Serum creatinine levels \>= 2.5 mg/dl or hepatic (liver) dysfunction with serum ALT, AST, GGT, or total bilirubin \>= 3 times the upper limit of normal * Participation in any drug study in the last three months * Currently pregnant or breastfeeding