Pain can be localized to an area supplied by specific peripheral nerves. Sometimes this can become chronic because the source of the pain may not be treatable due to the risks of treatment, or the presence of other medical conditions.
One possible was to reduce or possibly eliminate the pain is by electrically stimulating the peripheral nerves involved. This is a minimally invasive technique that is tried for up to one week first. If successful, a system can be implanted for long-term (possibly lifetime) relief.
Courtesy from Curonix
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- Knee pain
- Foot/Ankle pain
- Shoulder pain
- Back pain
- Rib pain
- Elbow pain
- Tail bone pain
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This technique is performed under local anesthesia with or without a light sedation. It is accomplished using either Ultrasound or x-ray guidance. It is an outpatient procedure performed in an operating room for sterility. Recovery from the intervention is short with only a few limitations after placement of the device is performed.
This is a close-up image of the permanent electrode that is placed along the peripheral nerve to be stimulated after a successful trial of stimulation has been completed. It is inserted through a needle. That’s how thin it is. The receiver wire is even thinner. It is placed inside the electrode after it has been precisely implanted next to the peripheral nerve. Courtesy from Curonix
Once the electrode(s) have been implanted under the skin, they are controlled by the transmitter that is placed on top of the skin over the receiving part of the electrode. As seen in the video (above), this device is small and worn whenever the patient wants to block the pain signals from the peripheral nerve. Some patients experience relief for hours after the stimulation has been off. Courtesy from Curonix