• Ferdinand Bastiaens, Ilse H van de Wijgert, Ewald M Bronkhorst, Bert-Kristian W P van Roosendaal, Esther P Z van Heteren, Christopher Gilligan, Peter Staats, Jessica T Wegener, Miranda L van Hooff, and VissersKris C PKCPDepartment of Anesthesiology, Pain, and Palliative Medicine, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Sint Maartenskliniek, Nijmegen, The Netherlands..
• Department of Anesthesiology, Pain, and Palliative Medicine, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Department of Research, Sint Maartenskliniek, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Sint Maartenskliniek, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: ferdinand.bastiaens@radboudumc.nl.
• Neuromodulation. 2024 Jan 1; 27 (1): 708270-82.

RationaleTo optimize results with spinal cord stimulation (SCS) for chronic low back pain (CLBP) and/or leg pain, including persistent spinal pain syndrome (PSPS), careful patient selection based on proved predictive factors is essential. Unfortunately, the necessary selection process required to optimize outcomes of SCS remains challenging.ObjectiveThis review aimed to evaluate predictive factors of clinically relevant pain relief after SCS for patients with CLBP and/or radicular leg pain, including PSPS.Materials And MethodsIn August 2023, PubMed, Cinahl, Cochrane, and EMBASE were searched to identify studies published between January 2010 and August 2023. Studies reporting the percentage of patients with ≥50% pain relief after SCS in patients with CLBP and leg pain, including PSPS at 12 or 24 months, were included. Meta-analysis was conducted to pool results for back, leg, and general pain relief. Predictive factors for pain relief after 12 months were examined using univariable and multivariable meta-regression.ResultsA total of 27 studies (2220 patients) were included for further analysis. The mean percentages of patients with substantial pain relief were 68% for leg pain, 63% for back pain, and 73% for general pain at 12 months follow-up, and 63% for leg pain, 59% for back pain, and 71% for general pain at 24 months follow-up assessment. The implantation method and baseline Oswestry Disability Index made the multivariable meta-regression model for ≥50% back pain relief. Sex and pain duration made the final model for ≥50% leg pain relief. Variable stimulation and implantation method made the final model for general pain relief.ConclusionsThis review supports SCS as an effective pain-relieving treatment for CLBP and/or leg pain, and models were developed to predict substantial back and leg pain relief. To provide high-grade evidence for predictive factors, SCS studies of high quality are needed in which standardized factors predictive of SCS success, based on in-patient improvements, are monitored and reported.Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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