Sacral roots stimulation in chronic pelvic pain

IntroductionChronic pelvic pain is a syndrome of chronic non-malignant pain of multifactorial pathophysiology. Perineal, anal and coccygeal pain can be a form of failed-back surgery syndrome or complex regional pain syndrome. Apart from conservative treatment interventional methods are useful in this condition as neurolytic blocks or non-destructive neuromodulation procedures. Peripheral nerve, spinal cord stimulation or sacral stimulation can be applied.AimWe describe a minimally invasive method of sacral roots stimulation with percutaneous electrodes implanted through the sacral hiatus in the treatment of chronic pelvic pain.Materials and methodsWe evaluated a series of nine female patients with pelvic pain treated with sacral roots stimulation in regard of efficacy and complications of this method.ResultsShort-term results in all patients were satisfactory with statistically significant improvement (median VAS = 9 before surgery) (median VAS = 2 after implantation, p = 0.001), (median VAS = 3 after 6 months, p = 0.043). The long-term follow-up revealed less satisfactory result (median VAS = 6 after 12 months). High incidence of complications was noted: mainly infection in 3/9 patients.ConclusionSacral roots stimulation is a non-destructive and minimally invasive neuromodulation method in the treatment of chronic pelvic pain. It can be effective even in the long-term observation but special care is advised to secure aseptic conditions in the implantation and to prevent the infection which leads to removal of the stimulating system.