• Alejandro Hallo-Carrasco, Laura Furtado Pessoa de Mendonca, David Anthony Provenzano, Jason Eldrige, Dario Mendoza-Chipantasi, Sebastian Encalada, and Christine Hunt.
• Department of Pain Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida, USA hallocarrasco.alejandro@mayo.edu.
• Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2024 Oct 24.

ObjectivesTo identify Reddit users' viewpoints and inquiries about spinal cord stimulation (SCS) for chronic back pain using Reddit databases.MethodsWe performed a qualitative analysis of public, anonymous threads and comments from targeted subreddits within the Reddit community. We used the Python Reddit API Wrapper to extract relevant data. A qualitative descriptive approach was employed, using natural language processing to identify and categorize common questions, concerns, and opinions shared by patients regarding SCS.ResultsOur analysis included 112 posts and 448 comments. The tone of comments was neutral (n=231), followed by negative (n=121) and positive (n=96). 13 users actively encouraged other users to try the procedure, while 25 advised against it. The main topics of discussions revolved around pain relief expectations and adverse events. Almost half of users commenting about pain relief expectations reported experiencing considerably lower improvement than anticipated. Pocket pain, lead fracture/migration, infection risk, and scars were common topics of discussion among users. Furthermore, users shared strategies to mitigate postoperative discomfort and offered insights into device selection based on MRI conditionality, reprogramming need, and charging prerequisites.ConclusionOur Reddit analysis identified potential targets for enhanced dialog between physicians and patients around anticipated pain relief, complications, and postoperative care. Reddit and other social media platforms may offer valuable opportunities for healthcare professionals to improve engagement with patients.© American Society of Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine 2024. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.

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