Ligation of mouse L4 and L5 spinal nerves produces robust allodynia without major motor function deficit.

•Transgenic mice have variable number of lumbar vertebrae and lumbar spinal nerves.•Conventional spinal nerve ligation is unreliable in mice due to the above.•We present an altered spinal nerve ligation model developed specifically for mouse.•This mouse model is robust and functional irrespective of the number of lumbar nerves.•Data validating the mouse model using gabapentin is presented.