Addit: Two placebo studies using spinal cord stimulation (SCS)
were brought to my attention by an attendee at a neuromodulation conference I
was speaking at a few days ago. None of the proponents of SCS included these
papers in their talks and the spine study was not included in the systematic
review I refer to in my previous
blog. And read on, I found a third placebo study.
Sunday, 15 April 2018
Friday, 13 April 2018
Stimulating spines
Spinal cord stimulators are small battery-powered devices
that are implanted in the back and electrically stimulate the spinal cord to
relieve chronic pain, often from failed spine surgery. These days they can be
controlled remotely and can even do your step count. They are widely used and
are very expensive. But we don’t know if they work or not – good evidence hasn’t
been produced, and this problem doesn’t look like being corrected anytime soon.
Why should it, when everybody is paying for the treatment now?
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