Spinal Cord Stimulation

Spinal cord stimulation and diabetic peripheral neuropathy

BayCare Clinic Pain & Rehab Medicine offers FDA-approved implants for spinal cord stimulation for treating adults with chronic leg and foot pain from diabetic peripheral neuropathy.

We offer these spinal cord stimulation implants for treating chronic leg and foot pain from diabetic peripheral neuropathy:

• Intellis™
• Vanta™

Both implants are approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration for treating chronic pain from diabetic peripheral neuropathy, and are manufactured by Medtronic.

Why we offer spinal cord stimulation implants

Spinal cord stimulation implants may be an alternative therapy for managing leg and foot pain caused by diabetic peripheral neuropathy for patients who haven’t found relief after using oral pain medication, creams, ointments or other pain treatments.

Patients with moderate to severe diabetic peripheral neuropathy achieved significant pain relief when treated with spinal cord stimulation com­pared to conventional treatments only, according to two industry-independent, randomized, controlled trials.

The trials also indicated a 70 percent treatment success in patients receiving spinal cord stimulation therapy vs. 6 percent in the control group. A long-term follow-up study showed that 80 percent of diabetic peripheral neuropathy patients with a permanent implant were still using their device five years after beginning spinal cord stimulation therapy.

Both implants allow MRI scans anywhere on the body when diagnostic care is needed.

Information for individuals with diabetic peripheral neuropathy

Referrals are not required, but medical records must be provided to our providers for their review to determine whether proceeding with this treatment is appropriate in each case.