Pain physician
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Chronic low back and lower limb pain occurs in 13% of Americans, and is the leading cause of disability. Patients with this condition have a reduced quality of life, have mental health disorders, and cognitive disfunction. While back pain alone is difficult to manage, back pain with associated leg pain results in further reduced outcomes. Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is a minimally invasive therapy that has been used for a variety of chronic pain disorders when conservative management strategies have failed. The therapy is appealing because of its ability to provide long-term relief at a reduced cost and it has low rates of serious adverse events. ⋯ The Freedom SCS System is an effective and safe therapy for treating patients with chronic back and leg pain that is resistant to conservative therapy due to nerve compression and CRPS Type I and/or II. These types of patients often report aggravation of symptoms with surgery. Minimal invasive surgery should decrease the chance of extra symptoms.