Spinal Cord Pain Pillar (Spinal cord stimulation)
After lumbar and neck hernia surgeries, some patients experience severe leg and low back pain due to some adhesions in the spinal canal. These patients have to undergo back surgery again and again, as their pain does not go away after herniated disc surgery. Each lumbar hernia surgery causes a new adhesion and subsequently an increase in pain. Algological treatments, physical therapy, medication, etc. in these patients. If some treatment methods do not help, “Spinal cord stimulation” is applied by placing a battery in the spinal canal of the patient. Another group of patients is patients with wounds and pain in their feet and hands due to vascular occlusion, especially Burger’s disease. The electrical current provided by the battery placed in the spinal cord, namely spinal cord stimulation, also contributes to the healing of wounds, since it also provides the expansion of the vessels, and additionally reduces pain.
How Is Spinal Cord Stimulation Applied?
A special electrode that can be stimulated under local anesthesia is placed in the patient’s spinal canal (epidural region). As a result of a small surgical intervention, a battery is placed under the skin of the patient and connected to each other with the tip of the electrode placed in the spinal cord. By giving a low-voltage electrical current to the spinal cord, this battery prevents nerve conduction, that is, the transmission of pain, which also means suppression of pain. In other words, by stimulating the nerve fibers in the spinal cord directly, pain is prevented from reaching the brain. The patient can adjust the intensity of the electric current from the battery to the spinal cord with the remote control device that he can control. Extremely successful results are obtained with this method. Since the spinal cord pacing method is an expensive method, it should be used when all other treatment methods are not successful enough.
Who can undergo spinal cord stimulation?
Patient selection is very important for the success of the method. Pain complaints should be very frequent and severe, and adequate response should not be obtained from other treatment methods.
Pain due to spinal cord injury,
Phantom pain resulting from amputation of arms and legs,
Peripheral neuropathy pain due to diabetes,
Pain due to peripheral vascular diseases caused by circulatory failure,
Nerve root compression due to adhesions (fibrosis) formed after surgery in the waist or neck region,
spinal pile are the most common diseases. In recent years, spinal cord stimulation
has also been used in the treatment of angina pectoris (chest pain due to heart disease). In the treatment of migraine resistant to treatment
, battery application by placing electrodes on the occipital nerve has revolutionized the treatment of migraine
pain.
How are the results?
According to many researchers, the rate of successful results varies between 48-75%. In the long-term follow-up of the method, 80-90% successful results were obtained in ischemic pain and 50% on average in neuropathic pain.
