Introduction:

Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is a form of chronic pain treatment that has been shown to be effective in patients who have responded poorly to other therapies. The current indications for SCS devices are very varied. The aim of our study is to analyze the diagnostic indications of SCS therapy during the last 5 years in our hospital, to know the most frequent causes of pain for the indication of the implant of the device and what percentage of improvement patients present, as well as to study the relationship with gender and age.

Material and methods:

This is an observational, descriptive, retrospective study. The patients were identified from the surgical activity register of the Pain Unit of the General Hospital of Valencia.

Results:

The final number of patients included was 179. The Failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS) was the diagnostic indication in 112 patients (62.57 %). The mean percentage of improvement described by the patients after the SCS implant was 47.99 ± 27.3 %. There were no differences in the improvement with respect to age or gender.

Discussion:

In spite of the variability of diagnoses in which this therapy may be indicated, it is noteworthy that in more than half of the cases the indication is by FBSS.

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