ID: 204783 Placement of Genicular Nerve Peripheral Nerve Stimulator for Chronic Knee Pain

Abstract

Peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) is an evolving modality for treating different chronic pain conditions. The intervention was predicated on the gate theory of pain, which posits nociceptive and non-nociceptive inputs modulate the other's intensity in the dorsal horn of the spine. Although gate theory was one of the first explanations of PNS, competing theories now include overstimulation of c-fibers, exhaustion of neurotransmitters, fixed depolarization of afferent axons, and electrically induced changes to long term potentiation.1 No unified mechanism has been established, though the efficacy of PNS is evident.