Twelve years of success in treating a patient with chronic visceral abdominal pain using paddle spinal cord stimulation

Abstract

Chronic abdominal pain is a debilitating condition with various etiologies, including pancreatitis, inflammatory bowel disease, and mesenteric ischemia. Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is an accepted method for controlling chronic neurogenic and low back pain. A 57-year-old woman with chronic visceral abdominal pain presented for replacement of a paddle SCS. For the past 12 years her pain has been under control with an 80% decrease compared to before SCS placement. Although percutaneous SCS has been performed for chronic visceral abdominal pain, to our knowledge this is the first report of long-term success with a paddle SCS for this condition. Our result and a review of the literature suggest a potential role for the selective use of paddle SCS to treat chronic visceral abdominal pain in the future.