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. 2021 Apr 20;22(4):807-818.
doi: 10.1093/pm/pnab015.

Persistent Spinal Pain Syndrome: A Proposal for Failed Back Surgery Syndrome and ICD-11

Nick Christelis  1 , Brian Simpson  2 , Marc Russo  3 , Michael Stanton-Hicks  4 , Giancarlo Barolat  5 , Simon Thomson  6 , Stephan Schug  7 , Ralf Baron  8 , Eric Buchser  9 , Daniel B Carr  10 , Timothy R Deer  11 , Ivano Dones  12 , Sam Eldabe  13 , Rollin Gallagher  14 , Frank Huygen  15 , David Kloth  16 , Robert Levy  17 , Richard North  18 , Christophe Perruchoud  19 , Erika Petersen  20 , Philippe Rigoard  21 , Konstantin Slavin  22 , Dennis Turk  23 , Todd Wetzel  24 , John Loeser  25
Affiliations

Persistent Spinal Pain Syndrome: A Proposal for Failed Back Surgery Syndrome and ICD-11

Nick Christelis et al. Pain Med. .

Abstract

Objective: For many medical professionals dealing with patients with persistent pain following spine surgery, the term Failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS) as a diagnostic label is inadequate, misleading, and potentially troublesome. It misrepresents causation. Alternative terms have been suggested, but none has replaced FBSS. The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) published a revised classification of chronic pain, as part of the new International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), which has been accepted by the World Health Organization (WHO). This includes the term Chronic pain after spinal surgery (CPSS), which is suggested as a replacement for FBSS.

Methods: This article provides arguments and rationale for a replacement definition. In order to propose a broadly applicable yet more precise and clinically informative term, an international group of experts was established.

Results: 14 candidate replacement terms were considered and ranked. The application of agreed criteria reduced this to a shortlist of four. A preferred option-Persistent spinal pain syndrome-was selected by a structured workshop and Delphi process. We provide rationale for using Persistent spinal pain syndrome and a schema for its incorporation into ICD-11. We propose the adoption of this term would strengthen the new ICD-11 classification.

Conclusions: This project is important to those in the fields of pain management, spine surgery, and neuromodulation, as well as patients labeled with FBSS. Through a shift in perspective, it could facilitate the application of the new ICD-11 classification and allow clearer discussion among medical professionals, industry, funding organizations, academia, and the legal profession.

Keywords: Chronic Pain; Failed Back Surgery Syndrome; ICD-11; Pain Taxonomy; Persistent Spinal Pain Syndrome; Pain Classification.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Number of publications indexed in PubMed using the term “Failed back surgery syndrome” in the title.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Diagnostic groups within the ICD-11 classification of chronic pain which are relevant to PSPS, through either exclusion (Chronic primary pain) or inclusion.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Proposed modification of the ICD-11 schema for chronic spine-related pain which allows the integration of PSPS (only relevant parts of ICD-11 diagnostic groups are shown). Multiple parenting allows a diagnostic category to belong to more than one group. The group Chronic primary pain is excluded (see text).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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