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Restorative neurostimulation continues to be effective in treating low back pain for three years
A study has found that restorative neurostimulation remains effective in treating back pain caused by multifidus dysfunction after three years. This type of dysfunction occurs when the multifidis muscles, which are important for spinal stability, are inhibited by back pain from intervertebral discs and facet joints. An implanted restorative neurostimulation device has electrodes that stimulate the nerves that control these muscles. Patients can carry out the treatment themselves for up to 60 minutes per day. The Food and Drug Administration approved the device after a year of successful trial results, but researchers at Harvard Medical's Brigham and Women's Hospital...
Restorative neurostimulation continues to be effective in treating low back pain for three years
A study has found that restorative neurostimulation remains effective in treating back pain caused by multifidus dysfunction after three years. This type of dysfunction occurs when the multifidis muscles, which are important for spinal stability, are inhibited by back pain from intervertebral discs and facet joints. An implanted restorative neurostimulation device has electrodes that stimulate the nerves that control these muscles. Patients can carry out the treatment themselves for up to 60 minutes per day.
The Food and Drug Administration approved the device after a year of successful trial results, but researchers at Harvard Medical School's Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, MA, have continued studying patients using the device to evaluate long-term effectiveness.
Dr. Christopher Gilligan, the principal investigator of the ReActiv8-B trial, said the results showed this procedure provides "an effective, durable and safe treatment for patients with disabling chronic back pain associated with multifidus dysfunction." Dr. Gilligan is the lead author of the abstract “3-Year Durability of Symptom Relief with Restorative Neurostimulation for Chronic Mechanical Low Back Pain,” which was selected as one of the best-of-meeting abstracts of the 21st Annual Pain Medicine Meeting. Dr. Gilligan will present the findings at a meeting on Friday, November 18th at 8:00 a.m. at the Hilton Bonnet Creek in Orlando, FL.
At the start of the study, participants were on average relatively young (47 years old) and had had severe back pain for 14 years (7.3 out of 10). Available three-year data from 133 participants showed that three-quarters of them reported greater than 50 percent pain relief; two-thirds reported pain relief (defined as less than 2.5 of 10 pain scores); and two-thirds had an improvement in the Oswestry Disability Index of more than 20 out of 100 points. The majority (83%) had clinically significant improvement in pain and/or disability and 86% said they were “definitely satisfied” with the treatment.
The patients' chronic back pain had previously been treated medically, which included at least painkillers and physical therapy. They had no indications for spinal surgery and tested positive on the Prone Instability Test, a physical test for multifidus dysfunction. All participants were followed up at 1, 2 and 3 years.
Of the participants who were taking opioids before the start of the study, 49% had stopped taking them voluntarily. Gilligan reported that the overall safety profile of the therapy compares favorably to other published neurostimulation studies in chronic pain and that no electrode migration was observed, a potential complication of implanted stimulation devices.
Source:
American Society for Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA)
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