The researchers also found that adverse side effects to the surgery were poorly documented overall, preventing them from concluding the level of risk involved. There was little to no clinical data regarding the long-term effectiveness of spinal cord stimulation. The review concluded that spinal cord stimulation is no better than a placebo for treating low back pain, with probably little to no benefit for people with low back pain or improvement in their quality of life. The researchers analysed the results of 13 clinical trials, looking at data from 699 participants, comparing spinal cord stimulation treatment with placebo or no treatment for low back pain.Ĭochrane reviews are trusted by researchers, medical professionals and policymakers because they use robust methodologies to combine evidence from multiple sources, reducing the impact of bias and random error that can make individual studies less reliable.

This included randomised controlled trials, considered to be the most robust method to measure effectiveness of a treatment in medical research. The study reviewed published clinical data on spinal cord stimulation. Spinal cord stimulation is thought to work by implanting a device that sends electrical pulses to the spinal cord to interrupt nerve signals before they get to the brain. Spinal cord stimulation, a medical technology suggested to treat people with chronic back pain, does not provide long-term relief and may cause harm, according to a Cochrane Review released today.

Dorsal column spinal cord stimulator