One out of eight people with abdominal pain are uncontrolled with medication. This can be debilitating and affect quality of life. 66 out of 70 people had substantial symptom relief with spinal cord stimulation.
Technical Aspects of Spinal Cord Stimulation for Managing Chronic Visceral Abdominal Pain: The Results from the National Survey
Leonardo Kapural, MD, PhD,* Timothy Deer, MD,† Alexandar Yakovlev, MD,‡ Toula Bensitel, MD,* Salim Hayek, MD, PhD,§ Stephen Pyles, MD,¶ Yasin Khan, MD,** Alberta Kapural, MD,* Dondre Cooper,* Lisa Stearns, MD,†† and Paulina Zovkic
Pain Medicine 2010 in press abstract here
- Optional area for leads was T5-6.
Results were the following:
- Opioid use went from 158 – 160 mg Morphine equiv(median 80 mg) to 36- 49 mg (median 20 mg).
- There were 8 revisions; one removal for headache and one removal for diarrhea.
Comment – I find this condition can be difficult to deal with, particularly in people who are unwilling to realize how much stress can affect the pain, and how anti-stress measures like exercise, hypnosis and meditation are necessary. This offers new hope for those severely effected.