Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 25, 2025
Treating Low Back Pain in Failed Back Surgery Patients with Multicolumn-lead Spinal Cord Stimulation
Published on: June 26, 2018
Spinal cord stimulator medullary compression-a very rare SCS complication and surgical treatment
Maria Ludovica Pallotta1, Alessio Lovi2, Andrea Luca2
1Spine Surgery in IRCCS Galeazzi Hospital, Orthopedics and Traumatology Residency in Università degli Studi Di Milano, Milan, Italy. ludovica.pallotta@gmail.com.
Introduction:
The risk of spinal cord damage after Spinal Cord Stimulator (SCS) implant is a very rare event. In our case report, the patient was affected by a progressively worsening spinal stenosis due to SCS compression.
Case Report:
The authors describe a progressive paraparesis in a 58-year-old woman with a long history of back pain and multiple spine surgeries. Computed tomography (CT) outlined vertebral canal stenosis corresponding to an electrode array implanted in T9. A posterior T8-T10 spinal cord decompression with explanation of the SCS device was performed and a partial neurological improvement was observed immediately postoperative.
Discussion:
Spinal cord stimulation has been used since 1967 for the treatment of refractory chronic pain, particularly failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS) and complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). Still, the mechanism underlying its function is not completely clear. Moreover, complications are mainly related to implant dysfunction and the risk of direct and indirect spinal cord compression is described as exceptional in the literature. Our aim is to describe the case SCS device spinal cord direct compression and its surgical treatment.
