Living with pain after a spinal cord injury (SCI) is something that many are familiar with, if not resigned to. There are a variety of ways in which to reduce or eliminate the pain, but what works for one person’s situation often fails to produce results for someone else.

An option we recently read about is the use of spinal cord stimulation (SCS) treatment – a therapy that is said to relieve neuropathic pain after a failed back surgery. (The original article can be found here.)

Patients in a prospective randomized controlled multi-center study (PROCESS) trial were rated on their level of pain before and after the use of SCS while a control group was given more traditional therapies such as nerve blocks and physical rehabilitation. Out of a 100 participants, 48 percent achieved at least a 50 percent reduction in pain. The control group experienced little or no relief.

SCS is not a cheap therapy, so you will definitely want to research your options and thoroughly consider the costs vs. the potential benefits. If you are interested, this Website has some good information on how SCS works.

Reference:
Manca A, Kumar K, Taylor RS, Jacques L, Eldabe S, Meglio M, 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). European Journal of Pain 2008.