For patients receiving spinal cord stimulation (SCS) for chronic pain, integration with an immersive virtual reality (VR) system – allowing patients to see as well as feel the effects of electrical stimulation on a virtual image of their own body – can enhance the pain-relieving effectiveness of SCS, reports a study.
The integrated SCS-VR approach improves pain control over SCS alone, with fast-acting and long-lasting effects that may increase with repeated use, according to the new collaborative research by Olaf Blanke, MD, of Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Geneva, Switzerland, Ali Rezai, MD, of West Virginia University Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, and Vibhor Krishna MD, PhD, of the Ohio State University and their colleagues. “To our knowledge this study shows, for the first time that it is possible to integrate immersive and multisensory VR with spinal neuromodulation and reduce chronic pain,” the researchers write.
Integrated SCS-VR puts patients in the picture to help control chronic pain
Drs. Blanke, Rezai, Krishna and their team tested their integrated SCS-VR “digiceutical” method in 15 patients with chronic leg pain. All patients already had SCS implants for chronic leg pain, in most cases related to failed back surgery syndrome.
