Salvage Therapy With Burst Spinal Cord Stimulation for Chronic Pancreatitis: A Case Report

Introduction Pain associated with chronic pancreatitis is often difficult to treat. On many occasions, interventional techniques may be necessary. In recent years, spinal cord stimulation techniques have been used successfully in the treatment of these patients. However, only the use of traditional tonic stimulation based on paresthesias has been published for this purpose. Spinal cord burst stimulation has been shown to be more effective than tonic stimulation, especially in failed back surgery syndrome. Case description We present the case of an 82-year-old patient with incoercible pain related to chronic pancreatitis for the preceding 5 years. She had shown good short-term results with lidocaine-cortisone blocks and celiac plexus radiofrequency. After a failed trial period with low-frequency conventional tonic stimulation, she was successfully treated with burst stimulation. Results A sustained pain score reduction of over 50% on the visual analogue scale was seen, as were a decrease in opioid consumption and a high degree of satisfaction with the therapy by our patient.