18 May 2023 • Spinal cord stimulation provides durable pain relief for diabetic neuropathy with an acceptable safety profile and sustained results through 24 months. It reduces pain by electrically stimulating neurons through leads placed in the epidural space. SCS is approved by the FDA for the treatment of DN and has been recommended by the American Association of Clinical Endocrinology (AACE) and the American Diabetes Association (ADA).

Dr. Erika Petersen,MD presented the design and results of the Senza-DN study, the results of which has been published in AAN's Journal Neurology.

• A total of 216 patients were recruited from 18 centers across the United States.
• Participants had DN for more than a year, failed on at least two pharmacotherapies, and had lower limb pain with an intensity of 5 cm or greater on a visual analogue scale (VAS) of 0-10 cm.
• At 6 months, patients receiving 10 kHz SCS had an average pain decrease of 76% and an improvement in motor function and reflexes of 62%. Patients in the control group experienced an average pain increase of 2% and a functional improvement of 3%. Pain relief was found to be durable.
• At 24 months, patients treated with 10 kHz SCS experienced average pain relief of 80%.

Neurological improvements were also durable, with 66% of patients receiving 10 kHz SCS reporting them at 24 months. Importantly, there was a 62% reduction in sleep disturbance at 6 months in the 10 kHz SCS group, compared to a 4% increase in the control group.

The results demonstrate that 10 kHz SCS provides durable pain relief with acceptable safety. The improvements in neurological function highlight the unique disease-modifying potential of 10 kHz SCS for PDN.

Source: AAN Neurology | Read full study