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. 2023 Apr 13;5(1):14.
doi: 10.1186/s42466-023-00241-z.

Beyond treatment of chronic pain: a scoping review about epidural electrical spinal cord stimulation to restore sensorimotor and autonomic function after spinal cord injury

Antonia Luz  1 , Rüdiger Rupp  1 , Rezvan Ahmadi  2 , Norbert Weidner  3
Affiliations

Beyond treatment of chronic pain: a scoping review about epidural electrical spinal cord stimulation to restore sensorimotor and autonomic function after spinal cord injury

Antonia Luz et al. Neurol Res Pract. .

Abstract

Epidural electrical epinal cord stimulation (ESCS) is an established therapeutic option in various chronic pain conditions. In the last decade, proof-of-concept studies have demonstrated that ESCS in combination with task-oriented rehabilitative interventions can partially restore motor function and neurological recovery after spinal cord injury (SCI). In addition to the ESCS applications for improvement of upper and lower extremity function, ESCS has been investigated for treatment of autonomic dysfunction after SCI such as orthostatic hypotension. The aim of this overview is to present the background of ESCS, emerging concepts and its readiness to become a routine therapy in SCI beyond treatment of chronic pain conditions.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Placement and stimulation target of ESCS. A In chronic pain applications electrodes are either positioned epidurally above the lemniscal tract (1) or the dorsal root ganglion (2) to target respective neuroanatomical structures. B In case recovery of motor and autonomic function are to be addressed, electrode arrays are placed epidurally above the lemniscal tract to target the posterior roots (3)
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