St Jude Medical has reported positive two-year follow-up results from a post-market clinical study evaluating neurostimulation for the management of chronic low back pain.
St Jude Medical said the study revealed that 70% of the patients who were on neurostimulation therapy reported an overall pain relief of 50% or better at their final two-year visit.
In addition, 88% of these patients reported that their quality of life was improved or greatly improved.
The large scale, prospective study was conducted at 29 medical centres across the US, and the Eon rechargeable spinal cord stimulator was utilised in the study.
Neurostimulation therapy, which is a proven method to manage chronic pain, uses an implantable medical device that delivers mild electrical pulses to the epidural space to interrupt the pain signals traveling to the brain.
St Jude Medical Neuromodulation Division president Chris Chavez said there is a growing body of evidence that confirms the effectiveness of neurostimulation for the management of chronic pain, especially for those patients who have tried multiple therapies only to continue to suffer with pain.
"Over the course of the past decade, physician training, technology improvement and patient selection criteria have advanced greatly. Our study validates the significant impact of these advances in further improving the effectiveness of neurostimulation therapy," Chavez said.