Background:

The Dorsal Root Ganglion Stimulation is a part from the treatment of the refractory neuropathic pain to a medical treatment, interventionism or central neurostimulation which have not work.

Methods:

This observational, prospective study show the results of 10 patients who has been implanted a Dorsal Root Ganglion Stimulation (DRGS) system following the clinical practice. All the patients suffer from refractory neuropathic pain to a medical and interventionism treatment. Eight of these patients passed the test phase due to an improvement of 50 %, 5 cases were patients who suffer from a traumatic or postsurgical peripheral nerve injury. The main objectives of the study were the assessment of changes in pain intensity, functionality and levels of anxiety and depression. The follow-up time was 6 months after the implantation of the generator.

Results:

Eight patients passed the test phase when a decrease in pain intensity was found to be greater than 50 %, 5 of these suffered pains secondary to traumatic or postsurgical peripheral nerve injury, the other three suffered neuropathic pains of other origins. We found a 63 % decrease in pain intensity in the VAS, a 70 % subjective general improvement, a clear decrease in analgesia, a functional improvement on the Oswestry scale, and an improvement in anxiety and depression levels (HAD scale). The best results were obtained in patients with electrode implanted at L5 root for the treatment of pain in the foot or ankle and allodynia. We found an absence of changes in stimulation in relation to posture and an area of stimulation similar with the area of pain. The complications were few and not severe.

Conclusion:

To conclude, this technique is an effective, safe and it will probably have a great future in the field of neurostimulation for refractory neuropathic pain.

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