July 10, 2024

New article by Drs. Naber II and Cook about potential use of spinal cord stimulators and autonomic disorders

Resident physician Dr. William J. Naber II and alumna Dr. Alyssa K. Cook collaborate with Dr. Alexios G. Carayannopoulos of Brown University to shed light on a new potential role for spinal cord stimulators in treating autonomic disorders of the spinal cord by writing an article for the neuromodulation special interest group of the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA Pain Medicine), summarizing recent research.

Epidural spinal cord stimulators are medical devices traditionally used in the treatment of refractory chronic pain by modulating neuronal signaling within the spinal cord.  Beyond treatment of pain, however, can spinal cord stimulators be used to treat other disorders where spinal cord signaling is impaired? Recent research suggests a potential role for spinal cord stimulation in the treatment of autonomic nervous system sequelae of spinal cord injury. Specifically, people who have had a spinal cord injury can experience autonomic dysreflexia and orthostatic hypotension due to the spinal cord pathology. These disorders present with problems controlling blood pressure and heart rate, sometimes to a dangerous level, and they can be persistent problems across the lifetime of someone living with spinal cord injury.

In this article for the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA Pain Medicine) neuromodulation special interest group, Drs. Naber, Cook and Carayannopoulos highlight this new potential application of spinal cord stimulation in the treatment of autonomic disorders of the spinal cord. Dr. Naber shares that Dr. Cook’s PGY-4 capstone Grand Rounds presentation on the topic piqued his interest and inspired him to not only learn more but to enhance national dialogue and potential for deeper research by sharing it with the Pain Medicine community.  By heightening awareness of this potential application and a need for further research, this work has potential to bridge two sub specialty areas and enable spinal cord injury medicine to benefit from a device originally designed to treat pain.

Article: Unique Applications of Epidural Spinal Cord Stimulation for Treatment of Pain and Cardiovascular Autonomic Dysfunction in the Spinal Cord Injury Population (asra.com)