Significant pain reduction in refractory post-mastectomy pain syndrome with closed-loop spinal cord stimulation: illustrative cases.

BACKGROUND

Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies worldwide and is often treated with surgery. Post-mastectomy pain syndrome (PMPS) can have disabling consequences. The incidence of PMPS ranges from 20% to 68%. Undertreated PMPS results in 10% of opioid-naive patients continuing to use opioids 90 day after surgery. Management has been centered around medications, psychological support, and peripheral nerve blocks. Case reports and series have been published describing dorsal root ganglion stimulation and spinal cord stimulation (SCS), but overall literature is lacking for this complex problem and no studies used closed-loop SCS.

OBSERVATIONS: Two patients experienced ≥ 80% relief of pain with SCS for refractory post-mastectomy pain. In both cases, percutaneous cylindrical leads were positioned over the cervicothoracic junction and utilized an evoked compound action potential-controlled closed-loop pulse generator (Evoke).

LESSONS: Closed-loop SCS is an effective option for refractory PMPS and should be considered when conservative options fail. https://thejns.org/doi/10.3171/CASE25218.