A retrospective study evaluation of patients undergoing mri compatible spinal cord stimulation in Algology Clinic of Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine

Pain is defined by the International Association of the Pain Research Group (IASP) as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience, related to past human experience, which results from actual or possible tissue damage". Chronic pain, on the other hand, is a social problem that deteriorates the quality of life and causes serious labor loss and economic losses. In the treatment of chronic pain, interventional treatment methods are used when conventional treatment methods fail or remain incapable. Neuromodulation applications are based on dynamic or functional inhibition of pain pathways. Spinal Cord Stimulator (SCS) is the most common treatment modality among neuromodulation techniques. MR-compatible and sensor-driven position-adaptive SCS systems have been developed because the patient group implanted SCS needs MR imaging and the stimulation changes caused by body position cause discomfort to the patient. In this study, the records of 83 patients who were implanted with MR compatible sensor-driven position-adaptive SCS between January 2017 and September 2020 in the Department of Algology of Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine were retrospectively reviewed. Patients' demographic characteristics, primary cause of pain, localization, quality and severity of pain, pre and post-opioid consumption, pain scales applied before and after the procedure, sleep patterns, change in daily activity and complications were recorded. In our study, we found that the pain levels of the patients, implanted MR compatible sensor-driven position-adaptive SCS procedure, decreased, and accordingly, their sleep patterns and daily activities improved. In line with the results of our study and other studies about SCS in the literature; we think that MR compatible sensor-driven position-adaptive SCS is a more effective, reliable and low-cost treatment in chronic pain palliation compared to conventional treatment methods in the long term. Keywords: Pain Management, Low Back Pain, Spinal Cord Stimulation, Failed Back Surgery Syndrome