Bayshore Community Hospital now offers Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS) for the treatment of back pain. The procedure involves the implantation of a pulse generator which is placed against the spinal cord. The pulse generator is roughly the size of a beeper. This implanted pulse generator (IPG) transmits electrical pulses which block the pain messages to the brain.

There are two types of SCS systems. The internal system involves battery implantation beneath the skin. The externally powered system uses a battery source worn outside the body. Both systems come equipped with external, portable controls which allow the patient to turn the system ON/OFF or manipulate its intensity and pulse rate.

The implant surgery follows a two-step procedure: the trial screening and the permanent implantation.

The permanent implantation is performed under a local anesthesia and lasts approximately 1-2 hours. Although the procedure is performed on an outpatient basis, it may require a hospital stay of up to three days.

Ideally, stimulation should provide a pleasant tingling sensation in those areas where pain is normally felt. Because SCS does not eliminate the source of pain, the amount of pain reduction varies from patient to patient. Typically, patients who have success with SCS experience a 50 percent to 70 percent reduction in pain.

Patients who use the SCS system are encouraged to commit to additional therapies, such as physical therapy to effectively control pain.

Prime candidates for the SCS procedure are those patients who have exhausted alternate forms of treatment and therapies, such as epidural blocks, surgery and prescribed medications. SCS is now another viable option for sufferers of chronic back pain.

Extensive research has shown that the tiny electrical pulses from the SCS system cause no damage to the nervous system. And SCS is approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treating chronic intractable pain.

For more information, call our Operating Room at (732) 739-5948. For a physician specializing in this treatment, please see our neuro- and orthopedic surgeons.

Lumbar Epidural Nerve Block
A simple shot of steroids that shrink the inflammation and reduce pain long enough to stop the cycle of pain. While this procedure can lessen pain following back surgery or from an old injury, the sooner you get this treatment, the better.

Many women have a similar injection during childbirth, when anesthetic is injected into the epidural base (the space where the nerves come out from the spinal column before they branch out to the rest of the body).

But for back pain, a mixture of local anesthetic and steroid medication is injected.

For a physician specializing in this procedure, see anesthesiology.