Spinal Cord Stimulation as a Potential Therapeutic Modality for Managing Concurrent Chronic Low Back and Abdominal Pain Complicated by Device Migration: A Case Report

TL;DR

Spinal cord stimulation provided relief for a man with chronic abdominal and back pain, but device migration later caused complications.

Contribution

This case report highlights SCS as a potential treatment for combined chronic abdominal and low back pain.

Findings

SCS trial provided significant chronic abdominal pain relief in a patient with refractory pain.

Device migration led to treatment failure and required surgical revision.

SCS may be effective for selected patients with combined chronic abdominal and low back pain.

Abstract

A 48‐year‐old man with chronic pancreatitis–related chronic abdominal pain (CAP) and concurrent chronic low back pain (LBP) with radiculopathy had inadequate relief from injectable and opioid therapies. A spinal cord stimulation (SCS) trial with dual leads spanning T4–T6 produced significant CAP relief, leading to permanent implantation at T5, after which he reported improvement in both CAP and LBP. Several months later, analgesia abruptly failed due to caudal lead migration to T7 with high impedance at multiple contacts and unsuccessful reprogramming, prompting referral for surgical revision with paddle leads. This case supports SCS for combined CAP/LBP in selected refractory patients while underscoring device‐related complications, such as lead migration, as key limitations requiring close clinical follow‐up.

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