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Updated: Oct 16, 2026
Treating Low Back Pain in Failed Back Surgery Patients with Multicolumn-lead Spinal Cord Stimulation
Published on: June 26, 2018
Spinal Epidural Hematoma Managed Conservatively After a Spinal Cord Stimulation Trial: A Case Report
Lucky Patel1, Shekher Mohan1, Justin Dumont2
1Baptist Health Sciences University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Memphis, TN.
Background:
Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is used to treat chronic pain but carries a rare risk of spinal epidural hematoma (SEH), which can cause serious neurologic injury. Urgent surgical decompression is often considered when neurologic deficits develop.
Case Report:
A 73-year-old man developed severe back pain during an SCS trial and was found to have a thoracolumbar SEH after trial lead removal. He remained neurologically stable during hospitalization and was managed with close observation. His pain improved, and follow-up imaging showed a reduction in the hematoma without surgery.
Conclusions:
This case illustrates conservative management of SEH in a neurologically stable patient with close monitoring. Further evidence is needed to define which patients may be managed without surgical decompression.
