Spinal cord stimulator

[Cheryl37]

Pain Dr. Recommend I do a trial of a spinal cord stimulator for chronic pelvic pain most likely from ilioinguinal nerve. Has anyone else tried this?

[Hidden]

Just a few random thoughts since I had a friend who did this. In the US, it requires lots of insurance authorization. She suffered a knee injury and subsequent painful scar tissue after many operations. Also an ankle problem. During the trial/installation she was in intensive care. For the actual installation, a neurologist and her pain MD worked together. She can adjust the strength and location of the stimulation for both knee and ankle. It was very successful, considering how completely disabled she was prior. She was able to stop using crutches and decrease her narcotics 50%. She is very dependent on coordination with the representative of the manufacturer of the device, because he/she maintains the settings and handles any technical problems. She eventually lost a substantial amount of weight, which makes the device in her upper back uncomfortable.

My pain MD has given me the sales pitch and advertisement brochures and DVD from several of these spinal cord stimulator companies in the US. However, he says my pelvic and abdominal pain is probably too diffuse to benefit. I would Google the heck out of any questions prior to trial, noticing who did the research. My friend also "shopped" the manufacturers by talking to their customer service reps to see who was the most responsive and had the best track record. Happy to answer any other questions if I can.

[Cheryl37 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you for your reply. I will definitely do my research. Do you know which manufacturer your friend went with?

[Hidden in reply to Cheryl37]

Looks like there are several new versions, would wonder about reliability? I can't remember 100%, but would guess Medtronic, NOT Boston Scientific. Most MDs who work with this have a preference and relationship with the company reps who do the programming and maintenance.