In addition to offering advanced medical management of painful conditions, Dr. King and the team at Christie Clinic’s Department of Spine & Pain Management offer patients interventional treatments to improve the symptoms of chronic pain.Among these treatments offered is a therapy known as Neurostimulation.
Neurostimulation (also called spinal cord stimulation, or SCS) is a proven therapeutic approach for managing chronic pain that is not effectively controlled with conventional treatments.This therapy uses an implantable medical device, similar to a pacemaker, to interrupt pain signals from reaching the brain. Since Medtronic developed neurostimulation therapy in partnership with physicians in the 1980s, nearly 250,000 people worldwide have received Medtronic neurostimulation therapy for the treatment of chronic, intractable pain.
For more than 30 years, neurostimulation therapy has enhanced the lives of people with chronic pain, some of who have been able to reduce, or even eliminate the use of pain medications. Overall benefits of neurostimulation therapy may include:
Lifestyle Implications
- Significant and sustained reduction in back and leg pain (1-3)
- Improved ability to function and participate in activities of daily living (1)
- Less oral pain medication (4)
- Potentially effective pain relief and convenience without the need for manual stimulation adjustments -- Medtronic’s AdaptiveStim® with RestoreSensor®, is the world’s first and only neurostimulator that automatically detects and responds to changes in a patient’s body position.
- The opportunity to try Medtronic neurostimulation therapy before committing to an implant- During the screening test, which is conducted for three to seven days, an external neurostimulator is worn around the waist and helps patients determine if the therapy might provide relief from their chronic pain.
Therapeutic Advantages
- Reversible therapy that can be turned off or surgically removed
- Manual adjustability, giving patients the ability to adjust the therapy based on pain level
- AdaptiveStim Diary available with Medtronic’s AdaptiveStim with RestoreSensor, which provides objective data regarding patient activity and enables clinicians to use this data to assess, evaluate, and optimize a patient’s neurostimulation experience
MRI Access
- The first and only FDA-approved neurostimulation systems for chronic back and/or limb pain designed for full body MRI safety (under specific conditions, see approved labeling).
Christie Clinic’s Department of Spine & Pain Management’s cohesive approach to patient care will provide the patient with the best possible control of their chronic pain.
For more information about Dr. Stuart King and the Department of Spine & Pain Management, please visit http://spinepain.christieclinic.com/.
References:
1 Kumar K. Taylor RS, Jacques L, et al. Spinal cord stimulation versus conventional medical management for neuropathic pain: a multicentre randomized controlled trial in patients with failed back surgery syndrome. Pain. 2007;132:179-188.
2 Kumar K. Taylor RS, Jacques L, 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. Neurosurgery. 2008;63:762-770.
3 Manchikanti L, Boswell MV, Singh V, et al. Comprehensive evidence-based guidelines for interventional techniques in the management of chronic spinal pain. Pain physician. Jul-Aug 2009;12(4):699-802.
4 Ohnmeiss DD, Rashbaum RF, Bogdanffy GM. Prospective outcome evaluation of spinal cord stimulation in patients with intractable leg pain. Spine, Volume 21(11). June 1, 1996.1344-1350.