Background and aims Despite notable advances, there are no clear-cut, objective tools to definitively identify which of the several available spinal cord stimulation (SCS)-based approaches are likely to induce robust pain relief within any given patient. Given this and the inherent subjective manifestation of pain, therapeutic devices that are equipped to provide multiple treatment options, thereby enabling patient-selective use of different modalities of neurostimulation, are expected to become increasingly essential when employing SCS for chronic pain. In this report, we describe our own real-world clinical experience using such an SCS system within a highly diverse cohort of implanted chronic pain patients.

Methods This is an observational case-series conducted at sites in Europe as part of an ongoing retrospective chart review evaluation of SCS outcomes for chronic pain (Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT01550575). Patients were implanted with an SCS system (Precision Spectra/Montage, Boston Scientific) capable of multiple waveforms (standard tonic stimulation, 1 kHz sub/supra-perception, burst, other). Assessments collected include (but not limited to) baseline characteristics (demographics, medical history, pain diagnosis), procedural information (lead configuration, programming parameters), and pre- and post-implant pain and patient treatment preference

Results To date, data analysis is currently ongoing. Results from the initial cohort of included patients will be presented.

Conclusions SCS devices that provide patients with greater control and customization of therapy offer potential for better management of chronic pain over time including possible mitigation of neural tolerance, reduced post-implantation follow-up evaluation, and opportunity to use different neurostimulative options without need to replace the implantable pulse generator (IPG).