title: Hardware failures in spinal cord stimulation (SCS) for chronic benign pain of spinal origin.
abstract: Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) has become an established clinical option for treatment of refractory chronic pain not related to cancer. Current hardware and implantation techniques for SCS are already highly developed and continuously improving, however equipment failures over the course of the long-term treatment are still encountered in a relatively high proportion of treated cases. Percutaneous SCS electrodes seem to be particularly prone to dislocation and insulation failures. This review summarizes the experience of the authors with management of hardware failures and their causes in patients treated with SCS for chronic pain of benign origin. The published literature is critically surveyed and discussed.
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, Central Clinic Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany. nikolai.rainov@medizin.uni-halle.de
authors: N G
authors: NG
authors: Rainov
authors: V
authors: V
authors: Heidecke
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004599:Electric Stimulation Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted; D004868:Equipment Failure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology; D059408:Pain Management; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012196:Review Literature as Topic; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013118:Spinal Cord Diseases / Q000150:complications