Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS) is a very scary term for a quite simple, and usually very safe, treatment to control some types of chronic pain. The concept is that by applying a low intensity electrical signal to certain parts of the spinal cord, via a tiny wire outside the cord sheath (i.e. not touching the cord), certain types of pain in certain locations of the body can be mitigated.
The types of pain that seem to respond the best are limb pain, especially lower extremity, due to nerve injury, and back pain or so called axial pain. A spinal cord stimulator should be trialed, percutaneously, for at least 4-5 days if not longer. Trialing of shorter duration is likely to encourage placebo effect and the patient may well end up with a permanent implant that is not useful beyond a few months.
It is estimated that 50% of solidly trialed patients who received a well placed perm SCS are satisfied after one year, 40% after three years. These numbers compare favorably with conventional surgery outcomes. As with any surgical technique, SCS carries the usual possible complications including infection, displacement of the electrodes, cord damage (very unusual) and sometimes a need to remove the system entirely.
SCS is often tried after conventional spine surgery is performed and has failed (laminectomies, discectomies, fusions, etc). It is thought that trialing before these often ineffective surgeries is a better approach, since failure to improve with conventional surgery makes SCS trials more difficult and less due to adhesions. Despite these considerations, SCS has considerable virtue in that it does not involve medication, which for chronic pain can be a never-ending battle.
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