title: Spinal cord stimulation for patients with inoperable chronic critical leg ischemia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Because of the prevalence of diabetes, the treatment of diabetic foot is still challenging. Even an exactly proved effective and practical method can't be listed except vascular surgery which is not a long-term way for it. Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is a very promising option in the treatment algorithm of inoperable chronic critical leg ischemia (CLI).
  
  
  METHODS
  We searched Pubmed database with key words or terms such as "spinal cord stimulation", "ischemic pain" and "limb ischemia" appeared in the last five years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mechanism of SCS is unclear. Two theories have emerged to interpret the benefits of SCS. Pain relief from SCS can be confirmed by a majority of the studies, while limb salvage and other more ambitious improvements have not come to an agreement. The complications of SCS are not fatal, but most of them are lead migration, lead connection failure, and local infection.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SCS is a safe, promising treatment for patients with inoperable CLI. It is effective in pain reduction compared with traditional medical treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310009, China (Chen XP, Gu W) Department of Neurosurgery, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310009, China (Fu WM).
authors.forename: Xiao-Pei
authors.initials: XP
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310009, China (Chen XP, Gu W) Department of Neurosurgery, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310009, China (Fu WM).
authors.forename: Wei-Min
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310009, China (Chen XP, Gu W) Department of Neurosurgery, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310009, China (Fu WM).
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gu
keywords: Critical leg ischemia; Pain reduction; Spinal cord stimulation