Spinal Cord Stimulation Holds Promise for Chronic Pain

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 20, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) for treatment of chronic pain in the back and/or lower extremities is associated with greater improvements in pain compared with conventional medical management (CMM), according to a review published online Nov. 14 in JAMA Network Open.

Frank J. P. M. Huygen, Ph.D., M.D., from Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and colleagues conducted a systematic literature review and network meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy of SCS therapies compared to CMM.

Based on 13 included studies (1,561 patients), the researchers found that both conventional and novel SCS therapies were associated with superior efficacy versus CMM in responder rates for pain reduction in the back (conventional SCS: odds ratio [OR], 3.00; novel SCS: OR, 8.76), pain intensity in the back (conventional SCS: mean difference [MD], −1.17; novel SCS: MD, −2.34), pain intensity in the leg (conventional SCS: MD, −2.89; novel SCS: MD, −4.01), and the EQ-5D index score (conventional SCS: MD, 0.15; novel SCS: MD, 0.17). Conventional SCS was superior to CMM for functional disability (MD, −7.10).

“Our study provides important insights for clinical decision-making as well as assessment by health technology agencies based on a more representative evidence base and a more inclusive analytical framework than that reported by prior reviews comparing SCS technologies,” the authors write.

Several authors disclosed ties to Medtronic.

Abstract/Full Text