What to Expect During Your Spinal Cord Stimulator Trial

Chronic pain is sometimes difficult to treat when pain endures after an injury heals. In some cases, nerves continue to send pain signals long after the cause of the pain disappears. 

When less-invasive treatments fail to relieve certain types of pain, the team at Metro Anesthesia & Pain Management in West Des Moines and East Des Moines, Iowa, turns to spinal cord stimulators (SCS) as a long-lasting solution to restore their patients’ quality of life. 

Spinal cord stimulators work in a similar way to pacemakers. Instead of sending signals to stabilize heart rhythms, SCS systems produce low-level electrical pulses that scramble pain transmissions, making it more difficult for your brain to interpret these as pain. 

Because elements of an SCS system are implanted permanently in your body, there’s a trial period with a temporary device to ensure the technology works for you. If you’ve had successful nerve block injections for your pain, chances are good SCS can provide lasting relief. 

The SCS trial

A permanent SCS system implants both a signal generator and the wire probes that deliver this signal to the specific nerve locations where pain is a problem. An external remote gives you control over your SCS performance. 

Typically, we recommend a temporary system trial of about one week to confirm the SCS technique provides sufficient pain relief. 

The SCS trial has two phases. First, we evaluate your pain levels, pain history, and fitness for surgery. Not all pain conditions can be treated effectively with SCS, so you need an assessment as a candidate for the procedure. 

Once past the first phase, we implant the wire probes into your spine’s epidural space near the nerves that generate your problem pain signals. During the trial, you wear the signal generator and its controls externally around your waist. 

Patient feedback

After setup, we test the trial SCS with you. First, we set the SCS so you feel a tingling sensation instead of pain at the problem location. That confirms the probe wires are in the right spot. We may adjust the location of the probes if necessary. 

Some SCS systems use generators that won’t cause tingling (paresthesia). If you have a high-frequency generator, there’s no need for a patient feedback procedure. 

Attaching the generator

Once the wires are implanted, we attach them to the external stimulator. Depending on the particular device you receive, the stimulator may be taped to your body or worn in a pouch around your waist. 

When you’ve recovered from general anesthesia or sedation, we show you how to use your SCS system controller to adjust settings and how to track your system usage during the trial period. 

We provide instructions for activity restrictions and personal care during the trial to prevent disturbing probe placement. 

We consider your trial successful if you report a 50% or greater reduction in pain. If the SCS system doesn’t fully resolve your pain, it becomes part of your pain management plan, reducing the amount of medication you need. 

Contact the spinal cord stimulator specialists at Metro Anesthesia & Pain Management to learn more about SCS and how it may help you. Book your visit by phone or online today.