BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Peripheral nerve stimulation to treat chronic pain is a neurosurgical armamentarium used for a long time, being indicated to treat neuropathic painful syndromes together with other types of nerve stimulation: dorsal column electric stimulation and deep cerebral stimulation. This study aimed at analyzing the relevance of peripheral nerve stimulation to treat chronic painful syndromes. CONTENTS: Primary indication is severe chronic neuropathic pain refractory to conservative treatment. However, the affected area needs to have a defined anatomic distribution and related to the peripheral nerve to be stimulated. One should also notice signs of objective involvement of the nerve. A nerve stimulation test shall be performed from 7 to 10 days prior to the final implant and pain must improve at least 50% according to specific evaluation scales. There are two methods to implant electrodes in peripheral nerves: direct surgical approach and percutaneous technique. After the test, the implant with permanent generator is performed. CONCLUSION: Peripheral nerve stimulation to treat chronic painful syndromes has shown promising results. The development of new materials is extremely necessary for the technical evolution and treatment of chronic painful syndromes. In this sense, new prostheses are being developed and one feature of a more feasible implant to be used in the peripheral nervous system would be low profile prosthesis with already implanted and rechargeable battery.
Chronic neuropathic pain; Chronic painful syndrome; Pain evaluation scales; Peripheral nerve stimulation
