A team of researchers in the United States and Japan reports that spinal cord stimulation (SCS) measurably decreased pain and reduced motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, both as a singular therapy and as a “salvage therapy” after deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapies were ineffective.
Writing in the September 28, 2020 issue of Bioelectronic Medicine, first author Krishnan Chakravarthy, MD, PhD, assistant professor of anesthesiology at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, and colleagues recruited 15 patients with Parkinson’s disease, a neurodegenerative disorder that is commonly characterized by physical symptoms, such as tremors and progressive difficulty walking and talking, and non-motor symptoms, such as pain and mental or behavioral changes.