A 54-year-old patient was implanted with an electric battery for spinal stimulation by doctors from the 4th Military Teaching Hospital in Wrocław. An innovative solution reducing back pain was used for the first time in Poland.
Spinal stimulation is a method that has been used in the treatment of pain since the 60s. It is used in people who are not helped by surgery. “Patients are implanted with a special electrode in the dura of the spinal cord, which, after stimulation with electricity, from a battery implanted in the patient, reduces the pain sensation,” Dr. Jarosław Sakowski, the head of the neurosurgery department in Wrocław, said at a press conference on Monday.
The innovative procedure of doctors from Wrocław consisted in implanting a battery that could be charged by the patient himself. Until now, batteries have been used that have been in operation for two years. The device implanted in a 54-year-old patient can work for up to 10 years. It has the dimensions of a matchbox and is smaller than the batteries previously used in spinal stimulation.
“The standard battery had to be replaced after two years, which was associated with the subsequent implantation of this device. The new one, thanks to charging, which should be done once a week, can work for 10 years ”- said the head of the hospital.
The modern battery is the third one that has been implanted in a patient from Wrocław. The first two were standard and needed to be replaced when they ran out.
The woman who underwent the procedure on July 27 is fine. “Thanks to this method, I can function normally. Previously, the pain was unbearable, it was impossible to live, ”she said at the press conference.
The cost of implanting a standard battery is 30 thousand. PLN, and modern – powered by electricity – 60 thousand. zloty. The hospital negotiates with the NFZ the reimbursement of costs for the procedure performed.
According to doctors from a hospital in Wrocław in Poland, about 200 procedures of implanting spinal stimulation devices are performed each year. Doctors emphasize that the need for pain treatment with this method is much greater (PAP).