Creating a Strain Relief Loop during S1 Transforaminal Lead Placement for Dorsal Root Ganglion Stimulation for Foot Pain: A Technical Note
Publication Date
2018
Journal Title
Pain Pract
Abstract
© 2017 World Institute of Pain Chronic neuropathic pain is often refractory to conventional medical treatments and leads to significant disability and socio-economic burden. Dorsal root ganglion (DRG) stimulation has recently emerged as a treatment for persistent neuropathic pain, but creating a strain relief loop at the S1 level has thus far been a challenging technical component of DRG lead placement. We describe a refined technique for strain relief loop formation at the S1 level using a transforaminal approach that we employed in a 45-year-old patient with intractable foot pain. We successfully placed a strain relief loop in the sacral space in a predictable and easily reproducible manner using a transforaminal anchorless approach. The patient experienced a decrease in visual analog pain score (85%), and improvement in function during the trial period, and proceeded with permanent implantation. The described sacral transforaminal strain relief loop formation technique appears to be a more reliable and predictable technique of DRG lead placement in the sacrum than those previously documented.
Volume Number
18
Issue Number
4
Pages
539 - 543
Document Type
Article
Status
Faculty
Facility
School of Medicine
Primary Department
Anesthesiology
PMID
DOI
10.1111/papr.12638