Uncommon areas of electrical stimulation for pain relief

Abstract

Uncommon stimulation refers to the use of peripheral nerve and spinal cord stimulation for nontraditional applications. There has been much interest recently with subcutaneous suboccipital stimulation for occipital neuralgia, sacral stimulation for pelvic pain, trigeminal stimulation for trigeminal neuralgia, and spinal cord stimulation for angina and peripheral ischemia. The indications and techniques used for accomplishing each method are discussed.

Peripheral median nerve stimulation for the treatment of iatrogenic complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) type II after carpal tunnel surgery

“…[6][7][8] Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is a well-established treatment, even if the results are controversial, in particular for CRPS type II. SCS does not produce a durable and statistically significant improvement in the pain from chronic CRPS-I.…”

Occipital Nerve Stimulation for the Treatment of Occipital Neuralgia—Eight Case Studies

“…Central, spinal cord stimulation has a number of postulated mechanisms. These include the gate‐control theory, blocking of spinothalamic tracts, activation of supraspinal nuclei, and alterations to neurotransmitter release (25).…”

Occipital Nerve Stimulation: Technical and Surgical Aspects of Implantation

“…The paddle style electrode can be sutured to the dense cervical fascia, perhaps decreasing the risk of electrode migration [11]. A technique to distally suture (secure) a percutaneous electrode has also been described [24,25].…”