Pain Specialists Discover New Ways To Treat Pain

Uncontrolled pain remains one of the most common reasons adults seek medical care. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 50 million U.S. adults have chronic pain (pain that lasts longer than three months). Chronic pain is linked to physical disability, anxiety, depression, and a dependence on pain medications, including opioids.

As a leader in pain management, finding new treatments is more important than ever.

As part of a cutting-edge study, several pain specialists have tested a new treatment for people with chronic back and leg pain. The study involved over 100 patients from different clinics throughout the U.S.

All patients successfully underwent a Spinal Cord Stimulator (SCS) implant. This involves placing a small medical device close to a person’s spinal cord. The device releases mild electrical pulses that can ultimately lower the amount of pain a person feels.

Click here, to read more about SCS implants.

During treatment with a SCS, electrical pulses can be delivered according to different programs, at different frequencies and wave lengths. This is much like a computer program that can be written in different ways to achieve better results.

During the study, one group of patients was treated with a new program for delivering electrical pulses, called Differential Target Multiplex (DTM). The other group of patients was treated with a Conventional Stimulation Technique, that has been in use for many years.

The two groups of patients were compared and the results were impressive.

• Roughly 80% of the patients treated with the new DTM technique, had their pain decrease by at least half during 3 months of treatment.

• Almost 63% of the DTM patients felt that their back pain decreased by almost 80%, compared to 26% with conventional stimulation.

• DTM was superior in relieving back pain for patients, when compared to the Conventional Stimulation.

According to Dr. Vipul Mangal, M.D., the new DTM technique “has the potential to significantly help patients by providing a non-opioid modality of reducing chronic back and leg pain”.

The study results were groundbreaking in the field of Spinal Cord Stimulator therapy. They were presented at the prestigious North American Neuromodulation Society meeting in January, 2020 and were received with much interest by the medical community.

Congratulations to Dr. Ricardo Vallejo, Dr. Rasmin Benyamin, Dr. Vipul Mangal, and Dr. Peter Staats for their involvement in the study, for their efforts to find new ways to help patients, and for staying at the forefront of medical research!

The new DTM technology is now available for existing NSPC patients, with chronic back and leg pain, that have a Medtronic Spinal Cord Stimulator. It is also available for new patients who are eligible for a Medtronic Spinal Cord Stimulator.

If you suffer from chronic back and leg pain and would like to learn more about how DTM can help you, click here to reach us.