persistent foot, leg, knee, hip or abdominal pain after surgery.There is no sensation, such as buzzing or tingling, just a reduction in pain.ĭRG stimulation has been approved for the treatment of CRPS, but can be useful for any type of focal neuropathic pain at or below the waist, including: The lead is then attached to a small device which creates a small electrical impulse, measured in microamps, which quiets the over-active sensory nerves without affecting any other sensory nerves or other types of nerves. Both therapies involve a thin wire (or lead) inserted into the epidural space of the spine (the same area as epidural steroid injections), but in DRG stimulation the lead is then steered to lie along the DRG as the nerves enter the spinal cord, rather than staying in the spinal column. That same sensitization of the nerves makes them more susceptible to neuromodulation (stimulation), which has the effect of quieting the nerves.ĭRG stimulation is similar in some ways to spinal cord stimulation, also known as dorsal column stimulation. In chronic and neuropathic (“nerve”) pain, these nerves become sensitized and hyperactive, sending too many signals, which the brain interprets as severe pain. Some of the nerves carry sensory signals that are interpreted by the brain as pain. The Dorsal Root Ganglia, or DRG, are bundles of sensory nerves that enter the spinal cord at each level, carrying signals from specific regions of the body into the spinal cord and up to brain to be processed and interpreted. As one of the leading providers of DRG stimulation in New England, the physicians at North Shore Pain Management have been placing DRG stimulators since June 2017, with amazing results in patients whose pain has not responded to many other therapies, including spinal cord stimulation.įirst, a little biology.
DRG stimulation became available in Massachusetts in the summer of 2017. This therapy has been available in Europe and Australia for several years, and in February 2016 was approved in the United States for the treatment of CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, also known as RSD). If you have a certain type of neuropathic pain, we may have good news for you! There is an exciting new type of therapy now available in the US, known as dorsal root ganglion (DRG) stimulation, now offered at North Shore Pain Management.
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