Spinal cord stimulation: principles of past, present and future practice: a review

Electric energy have been in use for the treatment of various ailments, including pain, since the time of Pharaohs. The theoretical basis of electrotherapy of pain was provided by the Gate Control Theory of Melzak and Wall. In 1965, Shealey et al. first introduced electrical stimulation of spinal cord for treating pain. At present spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is a well established form of treatment for failed back surgery syndrome, complex regional pain syndrome and refractory pain due to ischemia. The indications for SCS is growing and the technology involved in this is rapidly advancing, however, high level of scientific evidence is still lacking to support this form of therapy due to difficulties in blinding and comparing with control groups. Future developments in SCS could include, combined SCS-drug delivery system, bio feedback and closed loop systems.

[1]  Steven Piantadosi,et al.  Spinal cord stimulation for chronic, intractable pain: Superiority of “multi-channel” devices , 1991, Pain.

[2]  R. Deyo,et al.  Spinal cord stimulation for patients with failed back surgery syndrome or complex regional pain syndrome: a systematic review of effectiveness and complications , 2004, Pain.

[3]  Thomas L. Smith,et al.  Complex regional pain syndrome of the upper extremity. , 2011, The Journal of hand surgery.

[4]  C. Johnstone,et al.  Spinal cord stimulation: a seven-year audit , 2005, Journal of Clinical Neuroscience.

[5]  Krishna Kumar,et al.  Spinal Cord Stimulation in Treatment of Chronic Benign Pain: Challenges in Treatment Planning and Present Status, a 22-Year Experience , 2006, Neurosurgery.

[6]  H. Hillege,et al.  Efficacy of spinal cord stimulation as adjuvant therapy for intractable angina pectoris: a prospective, randomized clinical study. Working Group on Neurocardiology. , 1994, Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

[7]  P. Währborg,et al.  Long-term effects of spinal cord stimulation and coronary artery bypass grafting on quality of life and survival in the ESBY study. , 2002, European heart journal.

[8]  R. North,et al.  Spinal cord stimulation for chronic, intractable pain. , 1995 .

[9]  H. Vermeulen,et al.  Spinal cord stimulation for non-reconstructable chronic critical leg ischaemia. , 2013, The Cochrane database of systematic reviews.

[10]  R. Gatchel,et al.  Interdisciplinary Treatment of Failed Back Surgery Syndrome (FBSS): A Comparison of FBSS and Non‐FBSS Patients , 2005, Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain.

[11]  E. Buchser,et al.  Spinal cord stimulation versus conventional medical management for neuropathic pain: A multicentre randomised controlled trial in patients with failed back surgery syndrome , 2007, Pain.

[12]  T. Yearwood.  Neuropathic Extremity Pain and Spinal Cord Stimulation , 2006 .

[13]  D. Ubbink,et al.  Spinal cord stimulation in the treatment of non-reconstructable stable critical leg ischaemia: results of the European Peripheral Vascular Disease Outcome Study (SCS-EPOS). , 2003, European journal of vascular and endovascular surgery : the official journal of the European Society for Vascular Surgery.

[14]  B. Linderoth,et al.  Physiology of Spinal Cord Stimulation: Review and Update , 1999, Neuromodulation : journal of the International Neuromodulation Society.

[15]  J. Pilitsis,et al.  Spinal cord stimulation: indications and outcomes. , 2006, Neurosurgical focus.

[16]  S. Piantadosi,et al.  Spinal Cord Stimulation versus Repeated Lumbosacral Spine Surgery for Chronic Pain: A Randomized, Controlled Trial , 2005, Neurosurgery.

[17]  Thomas L. Smith,et al.  Neuroaugmentation in the treatment of complex regional pain syndrome of the upper extremity. , 1998, Acta orthopaedica Belgica.

[18]  K J Burchiel,et al.  Prospective, Multicenter Study of Spinal Cord Stimulation for Relief of Chronic Back and Extremity Pain , 1996, Spine.

[19]  L. Colvin,et al.  Raj's Practical Management of Pain , 2008 .

[20]  P. Wall,et al.  Pain mechanisms: a new theory. , 1965, Science.

[21]  K. Bulsara,et al.  Spinal Cord Stimulation for Failed Back Surgery Syndrome , 2001, Neuromodulation : journal of the International Neuromodulation Society.

[22]  E. Buchser,et al.  Spinal cord stimulation in the treatment of refractory angina: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials , 2009, BMC cardiovascular disorders.

[23]  K Shimoji,et al.  [Electrical management of intractable pain]. , 1971, Masui. The Japanese journal of anesthesiology.

[24]  Robert J Coffey,et al.  Neurostimulation for chronic noncancer pain: an evaluation of the clinical evidence and recommendations for future trial designs. , 2006, Journal of neurosurgery.

[25]  Shealy Cn,et al.  Electrical inhibition of pain by stimulation of the dorsal columns: preliminary clinical report. , 1967 .

[26]  E. Buchser,et al.  Spinal cord stimulation for the management of refractory angina pectoris. , 2006, Journal of pain and symptom management.

[27]  F. Enneking,et al.  Raj’s Practical Management of Pain, 4th ed. , 2008 .

[28]  Yoonkey Nam,et al.  A retrofitted neural recording system with a novel stimulation IC to monitor early neural responses from a stimulating electrode , 2009, Journal of Neuroscience Methods.

[29]  Krishna Kumar,et al.  Epidural spinal cord stimulation for treatment of chronic pain--some predictors of success. A 15-year experience. , 1998, Surgical neurology.

[30]  M. Stojanovic.  Stimulation methods for neuropathic pain control , 2001, Current pain and headache reports.

[31]  M. Prins,et al.  Microcirculatory investigations to determine the effect of spinal cord stimulation for critical leg ischemia: the Dutch multicenter randomized controlled trial. , 1999, Journal of vascular surgery.

[32]  C. Daousi,et al.  Electrical spinal cord stimulation in the long‐term treatment of chronic painful diabetic neuropathy , 2005, Diabetic medicine : a journal of the British Diabetic Association.

[33]  P. Ferroli,et al.  Huge epidural hematoma after surgery for spinal cord stimulation , 2005, Acta Neurochirurgica.

[34]  Ron Goeree,et al.  Quality of life, resource consumption and costs of spinal cord stimulation versus conventional medical management in neuropathic pain patients with failed back surgery syndrome (PROCESS trial) , 2008, European journal of pain.

[35]  J. Oakley,et al.  Spinal Cord Stimulation: Mechanisms of Action , 2002, Spine.

[36]  Miguel A L Nicolelis,et al.  Spinal Cord Stimulation Restores Locomotion in Animal Models of Parkinson's Disease , 2009, Science.

[37]  C. Carlsson,et al.  Long-term results by epidural spinal electrical stimulation (ESES) in patients with inoperable severe lower limb ischaemia. , 1987, European journal of vascular surgery.

[38]  S. Tesfaye,et al.  Electrical spinal-cord stimulation for painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy , 1996, The Lancet.

[39]  Jiping He,et al.  Mapping of sensory responses to epidural stimulation of the intraspinal neural structures in man. , 1993, Journal of neurosurgery.

[40]  A. Benabid,et al.  Electrical stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus in advanced Parkinson's disease. , 1998, The New England journal of medicine.

[41]  M. Staal,et al.  Long‐Term Effects of Electrical Neurostimulation in Patients With Unstable Angina: Refractory to Conventional Therapies , 2007, Neuromodulation : journal of the International Neuromodulation Society.

[42]  H C de Vet,et al.  Spinal cord stimulation in patients with chronic reflex sympathetic dystrophy. , 2000, The New England journal of medicine.

[43]  E. Buchser,et al.  THE EFFECTS OF SPINAL CORD STIMULATION IN NEUROPATHIC PAIN ARE SUSTAINED: A 24‐MONTH FOLLOW‐UP OF THE PROSPECTIVE RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED MULTICENTER TRIAL OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SPINAL CORD STIMULATION , 2008, Neurosurgery.

[44]  C A Carlsson,et al.  Epidural Electrical Stimulation in Severe Limb Ischemia: Pain Relief, Increased Blood Flow, and a Possible Limb‐saving Effect , 1985, Annals of surgery.

[45]  U. Frey,et al.  Using microelectronics technology to communicate with living cells , 2007, 2007 29th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.

[46]  J. Mortimer,et al.  Electrical Inhibition of Pain by Stimulation of the Dorsal Columns: Preliminary Clinical Report , 1967, Anesthesia and analgesia.

[47]  黄亚明.  MedScape , 2009 .

[48]  Richard B. North,et al.  Spinal cord stimulation for chronic, intractable pain: experience over two decades. , 1993, Neurosurgery.

[49]  H. Vermeulen,et al.  Spinal cord stimulation for non-reconstructable chronic critical leg ischaemia [COCHRANE review; CD004001] , 2005 .

[50]  M. Stanton‐Hicks.  Spinal Cord Stimulation for the Management of Complex Regional Pain Syndromes , 1999, Neuromodulation : journal of the International Neuromodulation Society.

[51]  D. Denison,et al.  Prognostic factors of spinal cord stimulation for chronic back and leg pain. , 1995, Neurosurgery.