In patients with intractable spine and limb pain, spinal stimulation, particularly with newer technologies, is associated with better pain relief than medical therapy, a review shows.

Spinal cord stimulation is a treatment that involves placing electrodes on the nerves to send an electrical impulse to the spinal cord to block pain signals.

In the analysis involving 12 trials and 980 patients, spinal stimulation increased the chances of pain reduction by 50% or more in three trials (OR: 13).

Spinal stimulation also significantly reduced pain as measured by visual analogue scale scores in three trials, in the study reported in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.