Spinal cord stimulation delivers mild electrical stimulation to the spinal nerves to offer relief from chronic pain in the lower back, neck, legs, and arms. The spinal cord stimulator is a small device implanted near the spine that will generate mild electrical pulses along the spinal column to block and minimize pain-sensing nerve activity in order to minimize the pain signals being sent to the brain.

After local anesthesia is applied to the injection site, the physician will carefully insert a spinal cord stimulator under the skin near the lower back. The spinal cord stimulator is similar to a pacemaker with thin wires called electrodes and a small generator. The electrodes are placed gently between the spinal cord and vertebrae, guided by a fluoroscopy X-ray.

After a consultation with a spinal specialist, a person considered a good candidate for spinal cord stimulation therapy will usually be scheduled for a trial run, which involves the insertion of thin wires with electrodes attached. The trial period is similar to long-term therapy, except that the device transmitting current is not implanted into the body. In the SCS trial, only the wires are inserted through a needle without incisions as an external transmitter sends electrical pulses to the electrical contacts near the spinal cord.

A general condition known as failed back surgery syndrome is one of the most common reasons spinal cord stimulation is used. The term describes chronic pain after one or more back or neck surgeries fail to alleviate persistent low back pain, leg pain (sciatica or lumbar radiculopathy), or neck, shoulder, and arm pain (cervical radiculopathy).

• Arachnoiditis, painful inflammation and scarring of the
meninges (protective layers) of the spinal nerves

• Chronic back pain with or without leg pain

• Chronic neck pain with or without arm pain

• Complex regional pain syndrome, a chronic progressive
disease characterized by severe pain and swelling

• Peripheral neuropathy, a constant burning pain of the legs
caused by the most distant nerves dying off

• Complex regional pain syndrome (reflex sympathetic
dystrophy), a progressive disease of the nervous system in
which patients feel constant burning pain

• Refractory angina, which causes chest pain, shortness
of breath, and fatigue

Spinal cord stimulation can be effective in relieving pain for a number of chronic conditions that have not been helped by other treatments, including back pain, neck pain, and complex regional pain syndrome. When surgery or other treatments have been unsuccessful or are not an option, spinal cord stimulation may offer relief and improved daily functioning.