ID: 220389 SCS in Patients Without Options for Corrective Surgery; Results From DISTINCT, a Prospective RCT Trial

Low back pain (LBP) is a highly prevalent, costly condition affecting millions of people worldwide across all sociodemographic classes. Those with an identifiable anatomic pain generator may undergo back surgery and achieve relief, but many are not candidates as they lack an identifiable surgically corrective pathology. Standard non-operative strategies include physiotherapy, oral analgesics, and image guided injections; these may not provide durable relief. Spinal cord stimulation is sometimes used to treat these patients but level I evidence is sparse. We present results from DISTINCT (NCT04479787), the largest RCT to date, comparing passive recharge burst SCS to conventional medical management (CMM) in patients suffering from chronic, refractory axial low back pain, who have not had lumbar spine surgery and for whom corrective surgery is not an option.