This session is aimed toward intermediate/expert neuromodulation advanced practice providers. Participants will leave the session with updated knowledge and skills to immediately apply in their neuromodulation practices.
Though spinal cord stimulation is often effective for neuropathic pain, the long-term outcomes can vary depending on the etiology. There is some evidence to suggest that analgesic and functional outcomes for complex regional and peripheral neuropathic pain syndromes may be inferior to those for post-spinal surgery neuropathic pain syndromes. This session will focus on monitoring of outcomes of SCS and their optimization. The role of patient-worn actigraphy and newer modes of spinal cord stimulation will be discussed.
Headache is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. The prevalence of acute migraine ranges between 2.6% to 21.7% depending on the studied population, whereas chronic migraine refractory to traditional first-line agents may afflict approximately 2% of the general population. It is well-known that headaches impose a significant economic burden including a reduction in productivity, an increase in sick days, and an increase in disability costs. Recently, neuromodulation interventions have been increasingly utilized to treat various headache disorders refractory to conservative management, first-line pharmacological agents, and injection therapy (e.g. occipital/supraorbital steroid injections, botulinum toxin injections, etc.). Most studies assessing neuromodulation interventions for the treatment of headache have focused on peripheral nerve stimulation and peripheral field stimulation, although observational studies have also recently emerged on the utility of high-cervical dorsal column spinal cord stimulation for the treatment of headache.
This session will focus on the critical and timely topic of closed-loop neuromodulation strategies for refractory psychiatric disorders. Such approaches are becoming increasingly common for movement disorders. But there is yet a wide gulf in our understanding of the neurophysiological basis of psychiatric disorders that must be bridged before CL approaches will be as commonplace. This session will address the question of how close we are to bridging this gulf.