The ‘miraculous’ spine implant that relieves torment of nerve pain

PEOPLE living in agony with chronic nerve pain are being given hope of a dramatic reduction in their suffering by a battery- powered implant that fits in the spine.

The NHS- backed device uses electrodes that stop pain signals from reaching the brain and – according to new clinical trial data – can reduce the amount of back and leg pain patients experience by an average of 80 per cent, just three months after treatment.

Doctors say more patients need to be made aware of the benefits the device can bring.

Chronic pain affects nearly five million Britons and has numerous causes: infections that affect the nerves, diabetes, injury, surgery and blood vessel diseases are all known triggers.

The problem occurs when the nerves send faulty signals of pain even when an injury or illness has healed, meaning the pain continues. Current treatments include potent painkillers such as codeine, opioids steroid injections, physiotherapy and surgery. But all these options have varying results and many patients find painkilling drugs become less effective or even addictive over time.

Now, if other treatment options fail, patients can be offered a fastacting, permanent solution. The implant, called The Senza System, is a form of spinal-cord stimulation. Once fitted, electrodes fire electrical impulses at large nerves in the spinal cord, blocking the transportation of pain signals to the brain. The electrodes are connected to and powered by a battery pack implanted in the buttocks or chest wall.

Research into the device is being pioneered at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, and new data to be presented later this year shows vast improvements in patients of all ages with chronic nerve pain.

While spinal- cord stimulation itself is not new – it has traditionally been used to treat a variety of leg and back pain conditions – this is the first time such a high reduction in pain has been achieved.

The Senza system, developed in America, fires at 10,000 times a second instead of the 60 times a second delivered by more con- ventional stimulation treatments, and blocks pain – although doctors are still not sure how.

Dr Ga ne san Bar an id ha ran, consultant in pain medicine at Leeds, said: ‘Chronic nerve pain can wreck people’s lives and this treatment really can transform them. I have had patients in their 30s who went from being couch potatoes because of their nerve pain to running marathons.’

To implant the electrodes, the patient is either sedated or given a general anaesthetic.

A 2in incision is made in the back and a wire with one or two electrodes is sewn to ligaments near the spinal cord. The procedure usually takes about an hour.

For the first week, the wire is connected to a temporary battery. If all goes well, surgeons tunnel the wire under the skin and implant the permanent battery in the buttocks or chest.

Mother-of-two Katrina Hughes, 46, from Wakefield, was treated with spinal-cord stimulation as part of a clinical trial at Leeds and said the treatment had been ‘life-changing’. She suffered with chronic back pain for more than 20 years after being run over by a car aged 11. She said: ‘Over the years, my back pain got worse and it got to the point where I was taking 30 painkillers a day, including morphine. I was like a zombie.’

She is now down to four painkillers a day and says the pain has virtually gone. ‘It’s like a miracle and I can’t recommend it enough,’ she adds.