Sustainability of Pain Reduction from Trial Stimulation to Long-Term Follow-Up in Chronic Pain Patients with Spinal Cord Stimulation: A Retrospective Analysis

Background/Objectives: Before permanent implantation of a Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS) system for treatment of chronic pain conditions a trial phase is standard, though its utility is increasingly disputed. Comparisons of long-term to trial-phase pain levels are sparse, and whether trial pain scores predict system explantation risk is unclear. We compare long-term and trial-phase pain levels in SCS treatment and investigate association between trial numeric rating scale (NRS) pain score and explantation.