Table 2.

Postulated mechanism of funicular pain

Postulated mechanisms	Pathomechanism	Clinical examples of the postulated mechanisms
Irritation of the ascending spinothalamic tracts [1, 2, 4]	1. Mechanical deformation of the ascending tract caused by the stenotic spine [15]	The L-hermitte sign is a type of funicular pain
	2. Increased mechanosensitivity of damaged axons due to demyelination of the ascending tracts [14]
Interruption of the pathways of pain modulation	1. Disinhibition of the ascending pain-producing pathways that normally inhibit pain signals, thereby permitting the brain to interpret the absence of normal inhibition as pain [16]	Pain drawings of patients with cervical cord compression showed significant amount of pain in the territories well below the level of cord compression (thoracic, low back and leg pain) [17]
	2. Interruptions of the descending antinociceptive projections from the rostral ventral medulla (RVM), which plays a critical role in the modulation and maintenance of pain threshold [17]