Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

Spinal cord stimulation for the treatment of chronic pain

Spinal cord stimulation is an invasive therapy for chronic neuropathic pain, usually used as a last-resort treatment when all other treatments have been tried and failed. The clinical value of the therapy has been much debated in recent years; here, we summarize the therapy and discuss the core controversies.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Joosten, E. A. & Franken, G. Spinal cord stimulation in chronic neuropathic pain: mechanisms of action, new locations, new paradigms. Pain 161, S104–S113 (2020).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Shanthanna, H. et al. Role of patient selection and trial stimulation for spinal cord stimulation therapy for chronic non-cancer pain: a comprehensive narrative review. Reg. Anesth. Pain Med. 48, 251–272 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Eldabe, S., Buchser, E. & Duarte, R. V. Complications of spinal cord stimulation and peripheral nerve stimulation techniques: a review of the literature. Pain Med. 17, 325–331 (2016).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Knotkova, H. et al. Neuromodulation for chronic pain. Lancet 397, 2111–2124 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Finnerup, N. B. et al. Pharmacotherapy for neuropathic pain in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Neurol. 14, 162–173 (2015).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Thomson, S. et al. Appropriate referral and selection of patients with chronic pain for spinal cord stimulation: European consensus recommendations and e-health tool. Eur. J. Pain 24, 1169–1181 (2020).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Kumar, K., Hunter, G. & Demeria, D. Spinal cord stimulation in treatment of chronic benign pain: challenges in treatment planning and present status, a 22-year experience. Neurosurgery 58, 481–496 (2006).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Duarte, R. V. et al. Systematic review and meta-analysis of placebo/sham controlled randomised trials of spinal cord stimulation for neuropathic pain. Pain 161, 24–35 (2020).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Hara, S. et al. Effect of spinal cord burst stimulation vs placebo stimulation on disability in patients with chronic radicular pain after lumbar spine surgery: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA 328, 1506–1514 (2022).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Lundh, A., Lexchin, J., Mintzes, B., Schroll, J. B. & Bero, L. Industry sponsorship and research outcome. Cochrane Database Syst. Rev. 2, MR000033 (2017).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cecile C. de Vos.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

C.V. declares no competing interests. K.M. has received teaching fees from Abbott. His institution has received travel support from Abbott and Boston Scientific.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

de Vos, C.C., Meier, K. Spinal cord stimulation for the treatment of chronic pain. Nat Rev Neurol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41582-024-00981-9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41582-024-00981-9

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing