Tech Shout!

Now wave a goodbye to chronic back-pain and leg-pain with the new medical science invention. Two pain management specialists have come up with an innovative technique that does not involve intake of drugs.

The unique technique involves two steps which involve an implanted electronic device called a dorsal column (spinal cord) stimulator and the other is a technology known as peripheral nerve field stimulation (PNFS). The implantable dorsal column stimulators shut off the pain signals from reaching the brain, and the peripheral nerve field stimulation stops pain signals migrating further away from the spinal column. The combination of the two ensures getting rid of back-pain and leg-pain together.

Eugene G. Lipov, MD, Director of Pain Research at the Northwest Community Hospital, Arlington Heights, Ill said, “Patients can have the best of both worlds: relief from leg and back pain they can’t get even with the strongest pain medications.”

The procedure involves the placing of three electrical leads connected to the stimulator unit, which are then implanted in the painful areas of the lower back and leg. The patient then gets to control the pain with a tiny remote control that manages the pain via an implanted stimulator. The stimulator can be left in place for seven to nine years, and to replace the batteries a simple surgery is performed, but the electrical leads are left unharmed.

“Using the hybrid technique we’ve literally seen patients’ quality of life dramatically improve right before our eyes,” says Jay R. Joshi, MD, Dr. Lipov’s research partner.

Dr. Lipov added, “We believe this new procedure will restore quality of life to millions of patients who suffer from back and leg pain and who have not found relief from surgery or drug treatment.”

The hybrid stimulator has been implanted in 19 patients since August 2007, with the patients reporting 60 to 100 percent reduction in pain. The findings will be presented at the American Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in June.