Open AccessRetrograde Spinal Cord Stimulator Lead Placement for Right L5 Radiculopathy
Author(s) -
PERPER YAKOV
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
pain medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.893
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1526-4637
pISSN - 1526-2375
DOI - 10.1111/j.1526-4637.2012.01365.x
Subject(s) - medicine , spinal cord stimulator , surgery , laminectomy , spinal cord , spinal cord injury , anesthesia , spinal cord stimulation , psychiatry
Dear Editor:I want to present a case where a retrograde cervical approach was used to place spinal cord stimulator lead in a patient with right L5 radiculopathy.A 55-year-old Hispanic woman was taken to the operating room (OR) for permanent transcutaneous spinal cord stimulator (SCS) insertion. She had a history of lower back pain, radiating to her right posterior thigh for 5 years. She had an L5/S1 laminectomy in 2007 that did not relieve her pain. She had a successful SCS trial for right L5 radiculopathy in 2008 and had a plate inserted surgically the same year. The SCS was helping her pain; however, the post-op course was complicated due to infection and the device was removed. The patient did not respond well on conservative treatment (opioids and transforaminal steroid injections). The surgeon refused to reinsert a plate due to the high risk of another infection. The possibility of repeated infection in a healthy adult with an uncompromised immune system and the benefits of SCS placement were discussed with the patient: she preferred to do the procedure.Patient was taken to the OR on March 21, 2011. Her back …