Neuromodulation : journal of the International Neuromodulation Society
-
The study aims to evaluate the long-term clinical and technical efficacy of recently developed percutaneously introducible plate electrodes for spinal cord stimulation. ⋯ Percutaneous implantation of small profile paddle leads in patients with FBSS and lumboischialgia produces favorable results over the long term that are at least comparable with surgical implanted paddle leads. The percutaneous approach also allows nonsurgically trained pain physicians to introduce paddle leads. Indices like if patients would redo the procedure may be more appropriate for analyzing long-term outcomes than the arbitrarily taking 50% reduction in VAS scores.
-
Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is increasingly gaining widespread use as a treatment for chronic pain. A widely used electronic registry could play a pivotal role in improving this complex and cost-intensive treatment. We aimed to construct a comprehensive, universally available data base for SCS. ⋯ We believe that the data base described in this article offers a powerful and versatile data collection tool suited for both clinicians and researchers in the field. The basic data base structure is immediately available on a no-cost basis, and we invite our colleagues to make use of the data base as part of the efforts to further the field of neuromodulation.
-
Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) by high-frequency electrical pulses has been used since the early 1970s for relief of chronic intractable pain following limb amputation. The long-term effectiveness of SCS for amputation-related pain with ongoing after-care is reviewed by assessment of all such cases managed over 20 years in the Neurostimulator Clinic at the Royal London Hospital. ⋯ Successful SCS in some patients with amputation-related pain otherwise resistant to treatment indicates that the procedure merits continued use with further efforts to refine technique.
-
Neurogenic bladder associated with spinal cord injury (SCI) often results in serious disruption of lower urinary tract function. Compared to conventional therapies, sacral neuromodulation (SNM) may offer an alternative, non-destructive treatment for SCI patients with bladder dysfunction. Understanding bladder reflex changes following SCI and the effects of SNM may yield new insights for innovative use of this promising technique. Using a SCI rat model developed in this study, we investigated: 1) the bladder responses with different grades of bladder filling in intact and SCI rats; and 2) the effects of acute SNM on bladder reflex responses in SCI rats. ⋯ The spinal rat model developed in this study was suitable to investigate the effect of sacral neural stimulation on micturition reflex. The results of present study demonstrated that the micturition reflex can be modulated by sacral neural stimulation.