Effectiveness of Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS) in Reducing Opioid Consumption in Patients with Chronic Non-Cancer Pain

Abstract

Research Question: Do adults taking prescription opioids for chronic, non-cancer, pain have a reduction in opioid usage following spinal cord stimulator (SCS) implantation?]

Background and Significance: Chronic pain is a prevalent and serious condition that impacts many. Few studies have examined how spinal cord stimulator implantation changes perceived pain and subsequent opioid consumption before and after SCS.

Materials and Methods: A retrospective study investigated the opioid consumption of 26 adults at three different times (1) Baseline (2) SCS implant date, and (3) 6 months post-SCS implant. Mean opioid consumption was calculated over the month prior and after to visit of (1), (2), and (3) to generate three separate 3-month averages. Opioid consumption was measured using Morphine Milligram Equivalents (MME). A series of paired-sample t-tests were conducted.

Results: Our participant population had a significant reduction of MMEs from baseline to 6-months post-SCS implantation (p < .001). While patients¿ MME decreased from SCS implant date (M = 35.73) to 6-months post-SCS implantation (M = 24.64), this difference was not significant but revealed a trend (p = .11).

Conclusion: In our study, patients using opioids for chronic non-cancer pain management, SCS modulated the perception of pain and noxious stimuli detections, resulting in a subsequent decrease in opioid consumption.