J Korean Pain Soc.  2001 Jun;14(1):110-113.

An Unexpected Improvement of the Symptom from Herniated Intervertebral Disc during Trial of Spinal Cord Stimulation for the Post-herpetic Neuralgia: A case report

• Ahn JS
• Han SH
• Kim TH
• Park HS
• Lim YJ
• Lee SC

Abstract

In controlling chronic intractable pains, the current therapeutic methods used are exercise, over the counter medication, cognitive-behavioral therapy, opioid medication, neural blockade, operation, etc., spinal cord stimulation being the last resort. Spinal cord stimulation was initiated when Shearly and others clinically tested the Gate control theory of Melzack and Wall. This had triggered the advancement of theoretic research on the mechanism and hardware necessary and has resulted in an accumulation of clinical experiences. This is known to be effective for treating sympathetic pain, arachnoiditis, failed back pain syndrome, radiculopathy, peripheral vascular disease, phantom limb syndrome, post-herpetic neuralgia, peripheral neuropathy, and angina pectoris. This report describes our experience in experimental spinal cord stimulation in patients with simultaneous post-herpetic neuralgia and herniated intervertebral disc. There wasn't any improvement in the post-herpetic neuralgia but the symptoms of a herniated intervertebral disc was much ameliorated. This was quite an unexpected result. The patient's back pain returned when the stimulation stopped.

Keyword

Herniated intervertebral disc; Intractable pain; Spinal cord stimulation

MeSH Terms

Angina Pectoris
Arachnoid
Arachnoiditis
Back Pain
Health Resorts
Humans
Intervertebral Disc*
Neuralgia*
Pain, Intractable
Peripheral Nervous System Diseases
Peripheral Vascular Diseases
Phantom Limb
Radiculopathy
Spinal Cord Stimulation*
Spinal Cord*