Sjögren syndrome and spinal cord stimulation: a case report

Sjögren syndrome is a chronic autoimmune disease. This disease mainly involves salivary and lacrimal glands, although it may also involve the musculoskeletal, respiratory, gastrointestinal, renal, hepato-biliary, hematological, neurological, vascular, or both systems. Small vessel disease may appear in up to 30% of the cases. We present a case report of a 62-year-old female diagnosed with Sjögren syndrome. Systemic associated manifestations of her disease included interstiticial vessel vasculitis with a necrotic, sharp, and painful ulceration in her left heel. Because of refractory pain to common analgesic medical therapies (paracetamol, metamizol, and tramadol), she was referred to our pain unit for evaluation and treatment prior to limb amputation. In our pain unit, a percutaneous posterior spinal cord stimulator (SCS) was placed. SCS clinically reduced her pain by 90% and helped to improve her quality of life and significantly reduced her intake of analgesics. We conclude spinal cord stimulation may be a good alternative to conservative therapies in patients with vasculitis of Sjögren syndrome.