SCS and its resulting pain relief in streptozotocin (STZ)‐induced PDPN animals have recently been described and here it was shown that SCS normalizes STZ‐induced mechanical hypersensitivity. In order to address this hypothesis, we implemented DRGS in an already operational and meticulously tested PDPN animal model and investigated the effectiveness of both DRGS and SCS. 15 As in PDPN pain is mostly present in the feet, 16 we hypothesized that DRGS is more effective in pain relief in PDPN when compared to SCS. 13, 14 The results of a recently published retrospective case series suggest that DRGS improves painful symptoms in PDPN patients. DRGS is known to achieve better pain‐paresthesia overlap of difficult‐to‐reach areas like the feet. In view of these limitations, a recently introduced and very promising option for treatment of PDPN might be conventional dorsal root ganglion stimulation. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 However, conventional SCS often provides incomplete pain relief (50% pain reduction or even less), 10, 11 which is restricted to 60% of PDPN patients and leaves 40% of the patients as nonresponders. SCS has shown to be effective on the short and long term in PDPN when pharmacological therapies have failed. Conventional spinal cord stimulation of the dorsal columns (hereafter named SCS) has been shown to be such a treatment option, which as well can be supplementary to pharmacological therapy. 3 As PDPN can be debilitating and a severe handicap to the patient and since effectiveness of pharmacological drugs is limited, there is an urgent need for other treatment options. 1 One‐third of these DPN patients suffer from painful diabetic polyneuropathy (PDPN), 2 which starts in the toes and spreads into the feet, legs, and hands. Diabetic polyneuropathy (DPN) is a chronic, symmetric, length‐dependent sensorimotor polyneuropathy and is present in up to 50% of patients with diabetes mellitus.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |