Tonic spinal cord stimulation (t-SCS) can help relieve pain from diabetic neuropathy, and some newer neuromodulation therapies also have potential, a systematic review and meta-analysis suggest.

UK researchers examined data from 15 previously published studies that looked at pain outcomes for people with diabetic neuropathy who received different types of invasive neuromodulation.

For the meta-analysis, the Oxford University researchers converted pain scores in the smaller studies to a standard 100-point scale to examine the effectiveness of techniques including t-SCS, dorsal root ganglion stimulation, high frequency spinal cord stimulation, and burst spinal cord stimulation.

Two randomised controlled trials showed t-SCS improved pain by 38 points more than “best medical therapy” at six months.