Journal Club: Landmark Articles for Treating Persistent Spinal Pain Syndrome

Spine & Nerve

In this week's episode of the Spine & Nerve podcast, Dr. Nicolas Karvelas and Dr. Brian Joves discuss landmark articles regarding the treatment of patients with Persistent Spinal Pain Syndrome (PSPS). PSPS is a new term that was recently proposed by an expert international committee to describe patients with chronic, severe pain of spinal origin, refractory to treatments, including at times surgery. Please listen to the Back to Basics episode for a full description and discussion of the pathophysiology. Though this is a new term, many studies have looked at the outcomes of interventions such as dorsal column spinal cord stimulation and repeat spine surgery when managing patients who had continued chronic pain after spine surgery. Listen as the doctors dive in and discuss these legendary articles that have transformed the management of patients with PSPS. This podcast is for information and educational purposes only, it is not meant to be medical or career advice. If anything discussed may pertain to you, please seek council with your healthcare provider. The views expressed are those of the individuals expressing them, they may not represent the views of Spine & Nerve. References: 1. North RB, Kidd DH, Farrokhi F, Piantadosi SA. Spinal cord stimulation versus repeated lumbosacral spine surgery for chronic pain: a randomized, controlled trial. Neurosurgery. 2005;56(1):98-106. 2. Alf L Nachemson (1993) Evaluation of results in lumbar spine surgery, Acta Orthopaedica Scandinavica, 64:sup251, 130-133. 3. Arts MP, Kols NI, Onderwater SM, Peul WC. Clinical outcome of instrumented fusion for the treatment of failed back surgery syndrome: a case series of 100 patients. Acta Neurochir 2012;154(7):1213–1217.