A new spinal cord stimulation (SCS) system using 32-contacts and allowing for independently controlled current delivery shows efficacy in significantly reducing low back or leg pain, researchers said here at the 31st Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM).
The multiple independent control (MICC) system (Precision Spectra SCS System) was designed to expand stimulus coverage of the dorsal spinal cord and improve therapeutic flexibility, compared with conventional SCS systems.
In a multicentre case series study conducted at 13 sites, Nitzan Mekel-Bobrov, PhD, Boston Scientific, Marlborough, Massachusetts, and colleagues collected data on pain intensity from 213 patients implanted with the device.
Among the patients, 63% were female and the mean age was 57.4 years. Using the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), 50% of patients had severe pain at baseline, with 41% of patients having low back and leg pain, 36% had back pain only, and 23% had leg pain only.
Preliminary findings on 140 patients with data available at 12 months post-implant showed a reduction of 4.18 points on the NRS, from a mean of 7.15 at baseline to a mean of 2.97 at 12 months.
Patients with severe pain showed greater improvement, with a reduction of 5.49 points, from a mean of 8.81 at baseline to a mean of 3.31 at 12 months.
Whereas leads were placed throughout the spinal cord, more than 80% of leads were placed between T6 and T8 vertebral bodies, and most patients had 2 leads and 32 contacts.
“MICC significantly reduces NRS scores for at least 12 months, even subjects with severe pain,” the authors concluded.
The study is ongoing to collect 2-year data on the patients.
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