SPINAL CORD STIMULATION AT 10 KHz FOR TREATMENT OF CHRONIC UPPER LIMB AND NECK PAIN

Author(s):  
Kasra Amirdelfan

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (11) ◽  
pp. 2786-2794 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Verrills ◽  
John Salmon ◽  
Marc Russo ◽  
Bradford Gliner ◽  
Adele Barnard ◽  
...  


Neurosurgery ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 87 (2) ◽  
pp. 176-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kasra Amirdelfan ◽  
Ricardo Vallejo ◽  
Ramsin Benyamin ◽  
Cong Yu ◽  
Thomas Yang ◽  
...  

Abstract BACKGROUND Intractable neck and upper limb pain has historically been challenging to treat with conventional spinal cord stimulation (SCS) being limited by obtaining effective paresthesia coverage. OBJECTIVE To assess the safety and effectiveness of the 10-kHz SCS system, a paresthesia-independent therapy, in the treatment of neck and upper limb pain. METHODS Subjects with chronic, intractable neck and/or upper limb pain of ≥5 cm (on a 0-10 cm visual analog scale [VAS]) were enrolled in 6 US centers following an investigational device exemption from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and institutional review board approval. Each subject was implanted with 2 epidural leads spanning C2-C6 vertebral bodies. Subjects with successful trial stimulation were implanted with a Senza® system (Nevro Corp) and included in the evaluation of the primary safety and effectiveness endpoints. RESULTS In the per protocol population, the primary endpoint (≥50% pain relief at 3 mo) was achieved in 86.7% (n = 39/45) subjects. Compared to baseline, subjects reported a significant reduction (P < .001) in their mean (± standard error of the mean) VAS scores at 12-mo assessment for neck pain (7.6 ± 0.2 cm, n = 42 vs 1.5 ± 0.3 cm, n = 37) and upper limb pain (7.1 ± 0.3 cm, n = 24 vs 1.0 ± 0.2 cm, n = 20). At 12-mo assessment, 89.2% of subjects with neck pain and 95.0% with upper limb pain had ≥50% pain relief from baseline, 95.0% reported to be “satisfied/very satisfied” and 30.0% either eliminated or reduced their opioid intake. CONCLUSION In conclusion, 10-kHz SCS can treat intractable neck and upper limb pain with stable long-term outcomes.



2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 030006052110040
Author(s):  
Kuen Su Lee ◽  
Yoo Kyung Jang ◽  
Gene Hyun Park ◽  
In Jae Jun ◽  
Jae Chul Koh

Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) has been used to treat sustained pain that is intractable despite various types of treatment. However, conventional tonic waveform SCS has not shown promising outcomes for spinal cord injury (SCI) or postamputation pain. The pain signal mechanisms of burst waveforms are different to those of conventional tonic waveforms, but few reports have presented the therapeutic potential of burst waveforms for the abovementioned indications. This current case report describes two patients with refractory upper limb pain after SCI and upper limb amputation that were treated with burst waveform SCS. While the patients could not obtain sufficient therapeutic effect with conventional tonic waveforms, the burst waveforms provided better pain reduction with less discomfort. However, further studies are necessary to better clarify the mechanisms and efficacy of burst waveform SCS in patients with intractable pain.



Pain ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. S78 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Pallaces ◽  
M.J. Pallares ◽  
P. Fenollosa ◽  
V. Chover ◽  
T. Santonja ◽  
...  


Author(s):  
Roberto M. de Freitas ◽  
Atsushi Sasaki ◽  
Dimitry G. Sayenko ◽  
Yohei Masugi ◽  
Taishin Nomura ◽  
...  

Cervical transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation (tSCS) efficacy for rehabilitation of upper-limb motor function was suggested to depend on recruitment of Ia afferents. However, selectivity and excitability of motor activation with different electrode configurations remains unclear. In this study, activation of upper-limb motor pools was examined with different cathode and anode configurations during cervical tSCS in 10 able-bodied individuals. Muscle responses were measured from six upper-limb muscles simultaneously. First, post-activation depression was confirmed with tSCS paired pulses (50 ms interval) for each cathode configuration (C6, C7, and T1 vertebral levels), with anode on the anterior neck. Selectivity and excitability of activation of the upper-limb motor pools were examined by comparing the recruitment curves (10-100 mA) of first evoked responses across muscles and cathode configurations. Our results showed that hand muscles were preferentially activated when the cathode was placed over T1 compared to the other vertebral levels, while there was no selectivity for proximal arm muscles. Furthermore, higher stimulation intensities were required to activate distal hand muscles than proximal arm muscles, suggesting different excitability thresholds between muscles. In a separate protocol, responses were compared between anode configurations (anterior neck, shoulders, iliac crests, and back), with one selected cathode configuration. The level of discomfort was also assessed. Largest muscle responses were elicited with the anode configuration over the anterior neck, while there were no differences in the discomfort. Our results therefore inform methodological considerations for electrode configuration to help optimize recruitment of Ia afferents during cervical tSCS.



2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kasra Amirdelfan ◽  
Ricardo Vallejo ◽  
Ramsin Benyamin ◽  
Steven Rosen ◽  
Peter Kosek ◽  
...  

Aim: It is argued that chronic pain patients who reduce/eliminate their opioids may have compromised pain relief. This study therefore aimed to analyze if reduced opioid consumption associated with 10-kHz spinal cord stimulation adversely affected pain relief. Methods: Post hoc analysis was performed on data from two prospective studies in subjects with upper limbs and neck pain conducted in USA. Results & conclusion: A 10-kHz spinal cord stimulation treatment was associated with reduction in mean visual analog scale scores for upper limbs and neck pain and mean daily opioid consumption. Pain scores decreased in subjects who decreased opioid use and in those who maintained/increased use. Opioid reduction and pain relief was also achieved in subjects taking >90 mg morphine equivalents of opioids at baseline.



2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (5) ◽  
pp. 1672-1679 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matija Milosevic ◽  
Yohei Masugi ◽  
Atsushi Sasaki ◽  
Dimitry G. Sayenko ◽  
Kimitaka Nakazawa

Transcutaneous and epidural electrical spinal cord stimulation techniques are becoming more valuable as electrophysiological and clinical tools. Recently, remarkable recovery of the upper limb sensorimotor function during cervical spinal stimulation was demonstrated. In the present study, we sought to elucidate the neural mechanisms underlying the effects of transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation (tSCS) of the cervical spine. We hypothesized that cervical tSCS can be used to selectively activate the sensory route entering the spinal cord and transsynaptically converge on upper limb motor pools. To test this hypothesis, we applied cervical tSCS using paired stimuli (homosynaptic depression) and during passive muscle stretching of the wrist flexor (presynaptic inhibition via Ia afferents), voluntary hand muscle contraction (descending facilitation of motoneuron pool), and muscle-tendon vibration of the wrist (presynaptic inhibition via afferent occlusion). Our results demonstrate significant inhibition of the second evoked response during paired stimulus delivery, inhibition of responses during passive muscle stretching and muscle-tendon vibration, and facilitation during voluntary muscle contraction, which share similarities with responses evoked during lumbosacral tSCS. These results indicate that the route of the stimulation current transmission passes via afferents in the dorsal roots through the spinal cord to activate the motor pools and potentially interneuronal networks projecting to upper limb muscles. Using a novel stimulation paradigm, our study is the first to present evidence of the sensory neuronal pathway of the cervical tSCS propagation. Overall, our work demonstrates the utility and sensitivity of cervical tSCS to engage the sensory pathway projecting to the upper limbs. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Despite therapeutic effects that have been demonstrated previously using noninvasive cervical spinal stimulation, it has been unclear whether, and to what degree, the stimulation can activate the sensory afferent system. Our study presents evidence that cervical transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation can engage the sensory pathways and transsynaptically converge on motor pools projecting to upper limb muscles, demonstrating the utility and sensitivity of cervical spinal stimulation for electrophysiological assessments and neurorehabilitation.



Author(s):  
Adnan Al-Kaisy ◽  
Girish Vajramani ◽  
Sarah Love-Jones ◽  
Nikunj K. Patel ◽  
Jonathan Royds ◽  
...  


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (16) ◽  
pp. 3633
Author(s):  
Atsushi Sasaki ◽  
Roberto M. de Freitas ◽  
Dimitry G. Sayenko ◽  
Yohei Masugi ◽  
Taishin Nomura ◽  
...  

Cervical transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation (tSCS) has been utilized in applications for improving upper-limb sensory and motor function in patients with spinal cord injury. Although therapeutic effects of continuous cervical tSCS interventions have been reported, neurophysiological mechanisms remain largely unexplored. Specifically, it is not clear whether sub-threshold intensity and 10-min duration continuous cervical tSCS intervention can affect the central nervous system excitability. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate effects of sub-motor-threshold 10-min continuous cervical tSCS applied at rest on the corticospinal and spinal reflex circuit in ten able-bodied individuals. Neurophysiological assessments were conducted to investigate (1) corticospinal excitability via transcranial magnetic stimulation applied on the primary motor cortex to evoke motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) and (2) spinal reflex excitability via single-pulse tSCS applied at the cervical level to evoke posterior root muscle (PRM) reflexes. Measurements were recorded from multiple upper-limb muscles before, during, and after the intervention. Our results showed that low-intensity and short-duration continuous cervical tSCS intervention applied at rest did not significantly affect corticospinal and spinal reflex excitability. The stimulation duration and/or intensity, as well as other stimulating parameters selection, may therefore be critical for inducing neuromodulatory effects during cervical tSCS.



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