Stereotactic and functional neurosurgery
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Stereotact Funct Neurosurg · Jan 1989
Epidural spinal cord stimulation in the management of reflex sympathetic dystrophy.
Eighteen subjects with intractable pain due to reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) underwent treatment by epidural spinal cord stimulation (SCS). All the patients had previously undergone multiple sympathetic blocks and/or surgical sympathectomy with either no results or only temporary therapeutic effects. Four subjects did not experience any beneficial effects during a 1-week trial and the electrode was removed, and 14 patients had the system internalized surgically. ⋯ All the problems were corrected surgically under local anesthesia. SCS has some value in the management of refractory RSD pain in selected cases. Because of the limited series and follow-up, its value in the comprehensive management of RSD requires further investigation.
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Stereotact Funct Neurosurg · Jan 1989
Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and spinal cord stimulation for pain relief in reflex sympathetic dystrophy.
35 patients with the diagnosis of reflex sympathetic dystrophy in a late stage have been treated with transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS). 6 out of the 35 were also submitted to spinal cord stimulation (SCS). The follow-up was from 10 to 36 months. ⋯ In the long run these results are better than those obtained with sympathetic blocks and sympathectomy. TENS and SCS have no effect on osteoporosis or ankylosis.