Sex differences in effects of excitotoxic spinal injury on below-level pain sensitivity

► Female rats exhibited below-level heat hyperalgesia/cold hypoalgesia after spinal gray matter injury. ► These effects for females likely result from altered sympathetic outflow, at-level. ► In contrast, gray matter injury did not alter below-level nociceptive sensitivity of males. ► These effects are consistent with sex differences in sympathetic reactivity to nociceptive stimulation.