Acta cardiologica
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Review
Spinal cord stimulation in refractory angina. A systematic review of randomized controlled trials.
Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is an invasive method used for treating patients with refractory angina. Although SCS is recommended by the European Society of Cardiology and American Heart Association (class lib, level of evidence B and C, respectively), the method is used very rarely and data on its effectiveness is limited. The aim of this work was to perform a systematic review of all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that investigated the effectiveness of SCS as a treatment for refractory angina. ⋯ RCTs investigating the efficacy of SCS were small and they demonstrated a small effect in angina improvement. Due to great differences in their design the interpretation of the results is complex. Before this method is recommended as a routine therapy for refractory angina, a larger, well-designed, multicentre RCT is needed.