Direct sacral root stimulation: Another possibility in chronic pelvic pain management

ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to explore the direct bilateral sacral root stimulation as another possibility in chronic pelvic pain management.Material and methodsWe implanted directly two Tined lead (Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN) electrodes in the sacral foramina at the S3 level, used for the treatment of chronic pelvic pain. Based on a sample of 20 patients with a mean of age of 57, this study comprised 3 groups: general surgery service patients—from the proctology section, which included patients with anal incontinence and a patient suffering from constipation; patients with diverse origins of chronic pelvic pain; and patients with lumbago in which the implant of this type of electrode was realized at subcutaneous level.ResultsAfter the test, the mean pain relief was 73.57 ± 13.7% (50-90). In-therapy pain relief was between 61.4% and 77.5%. Pain area coverage was 90% constantly. The average basal simple numeric scale in the whole group was 8.6 ± 0.8 and dropped to 3.8 ± 1.1, (P = 0.03) with statistical significance of almost 5 points in the scale.ConclusionsEven though this is not a new technique with a trajectory of more than 10 years, it is a completely new technique in the chronic pelvic pain area, representing some advantages over existing techniques, such as the ease of it and the lack of complications concerning coverage and migration.