Publications
Spinal cord stimulation for predominant low back pain in failed back surgery syndrome : study protocol for an international multicenter randomized controlled trial (PROMISE study) Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Although results of case series support the use of spinal cord stimulation in failed back surgery syndrome patients with predominant low back pain, no confirmatory randomized controlled trial has been undertaken in this patient group to date. PROMISE is a multicenter, prospective, randomized, open-label, parallel-group study designed to compare the clinical effectiveness of spinal cord stimulation plus optimal medical management ...
The Added Value of High Dose Spinal Cord Stimulation in Patients with Failed Back Surgery Syndrome after Conversion from Standard Spinal Cord Stimulation Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Patients with Failed Back Surgery Syndrome (FBSS) report a considerably lower health- related quality of life (HRQoL), compared to the general population. Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is an effective treatment to offer pain relief in those patients. Despite initial treatment success of SCS, its effect sometimes wears off over time. This study investigates the added value of high dose SCS (HD-SCS) in patients with unsatisfactory conventional ...
High-dose spinal cord stimulation for patients with failed back surgery syndrome Vrije Universiteit Brussel
The use of high-dose spinal cord stimulation (HD-SCS) has increased drastically during the past few years, with positive results. However, there remains a deficit of real-world data of the effectiveness of HD-SCS. Therefore, the primary aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of HD-SCS in patients with failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS). The second aim was to develop a prediction model for a holistic responder. One hundred ninety-four patients ...
Determining the Minimal Clinical Important Difference for Medication Quantification Scale III and Morphine Milligram Equivalents in Patients with Failed Back Surgery Syndrome Vrije Universiteit Brussel
The Medication Quantification Scale III (MQS) is a tool to represent the negative impact of medication. A reduction in medication can serve as an indicator to evaluate treatment success. However, no cut-off value has yet been determined to evaluate whether a decrease in medication is clinically relevant. Therefore, the objective is to estimate the thresholds for the MQS and morphine milligram equivalents (MMEs) that best identify a clinically ...
The influence of High Dose Spinal Cord Stimulation on the descending pain modulatory system in patients with failed back surgery syndrome Vrije Universiteit Brussel KU Leuven
Is the Self-Reporting of Failed Back Surgery Syndrome Patients Treated With Spinal Cord Stimulation in Line With Objective Measurements? Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Objectives: To understand the subjective pain experience of patients, healthcare providers rely heavily on self-reporting. However, to quantify this unique pain experience, objective parameters are not yet available in daily clinical practice. With regard to patients with failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS) treated with spinal cord stimulation (SCS), pain therapists may recover the individual functional information about the patient's posture ...
The Link Between Spinal Cord Stimulation and the Parasympathetic Nervous System in Patients With Failed Back Surgery Syndrome Vrije Universiteit Brussel
OBJECTIVES: In patients with chronic pain, a relative lower parasympathetic activity is suggested based on heart rate variability measurements. It is hypothesized that spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is able to influence the autonomic nervous system. The aim of this study is to further explore the influence of SCS on the autonomic nervous system by evaluating whether SCS is able to influence skin conductance, blood volume pulse, heart rate, and ...
The Long-Term Response to High-Dose Spinal Cord Stimulation in Patients With Failed Back Surgery Syndrome After Conversion From Standard Spinal Cord Stimulation Vrije Universiteit Brussel
OBJECTIVES: Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is nowadays available with several stimulation paradigms. New paradigms, such as high dose (HD-)SCS, have shown the possibility to salvage patients who lost their initial pain relief. The first aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of HD-SCS after conversion from standard SCS. The second aim is to develop a model for prediction of long-term response of HD-SCS after unsatisfactory standard ...
The association between pain intensity and disability in patients with failed back surgery syndrome, treated with spinal cord stimulation Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Objective: Pain researchers demonstrated that pain intensity is not the most reliable measure of the success of chronic-pain treatment. Several research groups have proposed "core outcome domains", such as measurements of disability, to assess the effect of an intervention in pain patients. Up till now, studies investigating the relation between pain intensity and disability in patients treated with spinal cord stimulation (SCS) are lacking. ...