Spinal Cord Stimulation for Acute Pain Following Surgery for Cervical Myelopathy: A Novel Treatment Strategy

Chronic pain syndromes caused by degenerative and postinfectious changes in the cervical spine continue to pose significant management challenges to neurosurgeons and pain practitioners. The identification of an individualized treatment plan, astute surgical technique, comprehensive and multimodal analgesia, and adequate rehabilitation processes do not necessarily result in diminished pain.

We present the case of a patient with chronic pain treated surgically for degenerative cervical myelopathy secondary to cervical spinal stenosis. Following this surgery, the patient experienced an intractable postoperative pain syndrome that had anatomical borders, and an intensity and character that were different from the background chronic pain from which he suffered. We successfully implanted a cervical spinal cord stimulation (SCS) lead in the period following his stenosis surgery, which had good therapeutic effect on the postoperative-onset pain. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first description of SCS having a strong positive effect on an acute exacerbation of neuropathic pain. At follow-up 12 months later, assessment of the patient's pain diary revealed a modal pain intensity of 3/10 on the numeric rating scale over the preceding 3 months. The Brief Pain Inventory (Short Form) scores at this time were 10/40 in the pain severity domain and 18/70 in the interference with function domain, demonstrating the long-term effectiveness of this SCS strategy.

While SCS has hitherto been untested as a therapy for acute-onset pain, this report demonstrates its utility as a salvage treatment in select cases of uncontrollable postoperative pain.