Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS)
Atlas Pain and Spine uses SCS for chronic pain conditions that significantly affect your life. Chronic pain of the legs, arms, hands or feet, as well as neck and low back pain can be treated effectively with this therapy. Patients that have failed conservative approaches, injections or even spine surgery can be candidates for this treatment. The therapy, pioneered several decades ago, uses small electrical impulses to block, override or replace the pain sensations traveling from the painful area before they reach your brain and cause pain. This is different from other therapies because you can do a trial before any permanent surgery to assess whether this can be effective for your pain. First, leads (wires with smooth coating and several electrical contacts) will be placed with a needle in the spinal canal on a temporary basis. You will go home and live your best life for a few days, trying several different programs for pain relief. After a few days, you will return to the office where the wires are removed easily in the clinic. If you found that you experienced a higher quality of life and want to use the therapy long term, we will setup a day to have a small battery and the leads implanted under the skin as an outpatient surgery. The battery for this can last several years or longer depending on programming and the specific battery used.
Steps for the trial:
1. Overview: Your vitals will be taken, a safety check performed and your medical history updated. You will then be brought to the procedure suite.
2. Sedation and Positioning: You will be positioned lying down on your stomach. Sedation may be administered intravenously and the skin over the procedure site may be numbed.
3. Injection: Using X-ray guidance, needles will be inserted into the epidural space. The leads will be inserted through the needle and steered to the location of the spine where the nerves from the painful area of your body travel along the spinal cord. The system will be turned on gently, and the leads will be moved slightly to ensure the areas of pain are covered. The needles will then be removed and band-aids and adhesive placed over the area where the leads exit the skin. You’re all done! Variations may be made to accommodate for patients’ individual conditions or allergies.
4. Recovery: Our friendly staff will take you to a recovery area where you’ll be monitored for any unlikely issues or complications, and follow-up appointments will be scheduled. A representative from the company that manufactures the device will assist in programming your spinal cord stimulator so you get the best pain relief.