Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) in treatment of chronic, intractable truncal, and axial pain has been conducted for over 50 years (1). Improvement in stimulator technology is thought to have led to resurgence in use since 2005, when positive randomized control trials showed efficacy in treatment of patients with failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS) (2–4). Axial pain is nociceptive, or neuropathic pain is felt to be secondary to a spinal abnormality that does not have a radicular pattern and includes some forms of FBSS.

Results: There was a significant reduction in mean visual analog scale pain scores in the immediate postoperative phase, (8.61 vs. 2.3, p < 0.001). There were twelve patients who consumed pre-operative opioid, and 75% showed reduction of use with a significantly lower average daily dose (66.8 vs. 26.9 meq/D, p < 0.05). There was a significant reduction in the Oswestry Disability Index during postoperative follow-up visits (p < 0.001). There were no major perioperative or long-term complications from the procedure in follow-up.

Conclusion: The analysis of this cohort suggests successful long-term treatment of a diverse set of patients with PSPS who underwent spinal cord stimulation (SCS) and had meaningful improvement in quality of life and reduction in opioid consumption.

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Front. Pain Res., 08 March 2022
Sec. Neuromodulatory Interventions
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpain.2022.847504

Article in Pain physician · November 2008 (Pain Physician 2008; 11:891-907 • ISSN 1533-3159)

Inflammation often plays a key role in the perpetuation of pain. Chronic inflammatory conditions (e.g. osteoarthritis, immune system dysfunction, micro-circulatory disease, painful neuritis, and even heart disease) have increased as baby boomers age. Medicine's current anti-inflammatory choices are NSAIDs and steroids; the value in promoting cure and side effect risks of these medications are unclear and controversial, especially considering individual patient variations. Electricity has continuously been a powerful tool in medicine for thousands of years. All medical professionals are, to some degree, aware of electrotherapy; those who directly use electricity for treatment know of its anti-inflammatory effects. 

Electronic signal treatment (EST), as an extension of presently available technology, may reasonably have even more anti-inflammatory effects. EST is a digitally produced alternating current sinusoidal electronic signal with associated harmonics to produce theoretically reasonable and/or scientifically documented physiological effects when applied to the human body. These signals are produced by advanced electronics not possible even 10 to 15 years ago. The potential long-lasting anti-inflammatory effects of some electrical currents are based on basic physical and biochemical facts listed in the text below, namely that of stimulating and signaling effective and long-lasting anti-inflammatory effects in nerve and muscle cells. The safety of electrotherapeutic treatments in general and EST in particular has been established through extensive clinical use. The principles of physics have been largely de-emphasized in modern medicine in favor of chemistry. 

EST is a digitally produced alternating current sinusoidal electronic signal with associated harmonics to produce theoretically reasonable and/or scientifically documented physiological effects when applied to the human body. These signals are produced by advanced electronics not possible even 10 to 15 years ago.

Robert H. Odell, Jr., MD, PhD, and Richard E. Sorgnard, PhD

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