Spinal Cord Stimulation for Chronic Pain, Neuropathy, and Device Complications: Scoping Review with ☸️SAIMSARA.

Name: SAIMSARA Evidence Object pain::SPINAL_CORD_STIMULATION_PM
Creator: SAIMSARA
License: https://saimsara.com/license/

SAIMSARA

doi:10.62487/saimsara8a90f9b4

SAIMSARA Journal

Machine-Readable Science • ISSN 3054-3991

Spinal Cord Stimulation for Chronic Pain, Neuropathy, and Device Complications: Scoping Review with ☸️SAIMSARA.

Pain Medicine

Issue 6, Volume 1, 2026

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DOI: 10.62487/saimsara8a90f9b4

Editorial note

• Last update: 2026-05-21 09:49:11

What is this paper about

Spinal cord stimulation is not simply an implant for chronic pain — it is a long-term neuromodulation pathway where benefit depends on careful selection, anatomy-aware implantation, psychosocial screening, and active device management. The full paper maps 270 references across 631 original studies to show where SCS is strongest, where complications cluster, and which patients may gain durable value rather than repeated revision or explantation.

Human-verified editorial review Verified by World ID proof-of-human. This editorial layer was submitted from a SAIMSARA account verified as a unique human.

Video summary generated from this ☸️SAIMSARA evidence map. Full reference-linked paper and evidence JSON are available after purchase.

Abstract: To synthesize the structured evidence on spinal cord stimulators, emphasizing study characteristics, central clinical findings, major indications, procedural and device-related complications, predictors of outcome, and practical implications for clinical use and future research. The review uses 270 references and builds its evidence map from 631 original studies with 54813756 total participants/sample observations (topic-deduplicated ΣN). Across this scoping review, spinal cord stimulation emerges as a clinically established but durability-limited neuromodulation therapy whose value depends as much on patient selection and longitudinal device management as on implantation itself. The most recurrent signal is a dual one: meaningful pain relief in refractory neuropathic and spine-related conditions alongside substantial reintervention burden, exemplified by a 23.2% re-intervention rate in a large Australian cohort and a 30% explantation rate in a percutaneous-device series. Structured psychosocial screening, anatomy-aware planning, and infection-prevention bundles were repeatedly associated with better trajectories and support integrating SCS into multidisciplinary pathways rather than treating it as a standalone procedure. Future research should prioritize pragmatic comparative trials and externally validated risk-prediction models for explantation, neurological injury, and loss of efficacy to clarify which patients and which stimulation paradigms deliver durable benefit.

Keywords: Spinal cord stimulation; Neuromodulation; Chronic pain; Neuropathic pain; Complex regional pain; SCS implantation; Lead migration; Epidural stimulation; Device complications; Percutaneous leads

Review Stats

Final search date and database lock: 2026-05-16 01:53:37 CEST
Plan: Pro (expanded craft tokens; source: PubMed)
Source: PubMed
Total Abstracts/Papers: 1352
Downloaded Abstracts/Papers: 1352
Included original and non-original Abstracts/Papers (all): 685
Included original Abstracts/Papers (Vote counting by direction of effect): 631
Reference Index (links used in paper): 270
Total participants/sample observations (topic deduplicated ΣN): 54813756

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Reference Index (270)

[1] Meralgia Paresthetica. — https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-022-01053-7
[2] A Comprehensive Review of Spinal Cord Stimulator Infections. — https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-022-01090-2
[3] Percutaneous Thoracic Spinal Cord Stimulator Placement. — https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.13916
[4] Spinal Cord Stimulator Infection: Approach to Diagnosis, Management, and Prevention. — https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciz994
[5] Clinical Effect Analysis of Spinal Cord Electrical Stimulator Implantation for Diabetic Foot. — https://doi.org/10.1111/ner.13502
[6] Dural Puncture During Spinal Cord Stimulator Lead Insertion: Analysis of Practice Patterns. — https://doi.org/10.5812/aapm-127179
[7] Spinal cord stimulator for the treatment of central neuropathic pain secondary to cervical syringomyelia: illustrative case. — https://doi.org/10.3171/case22226
[8] Evaluating the incidence of spinal cord injury after spinal cord stimulator implant: an updated retrospective review. — https://doi.org/10.1136/rapm-2021-103307

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