Electrical stimulation of the ventral and dorsal columns of the spinal cord for relief of chronic intractable pain: preliminary report.

Serious questions are raised as to whether electrical control of pain is related to stimulation of the dorsal columns per se or the conduction of the electrical impulse via the cerebrospinal fluid to the ventrolateral columns. Percutaneous on-surface spinal cord stimulation is advocated as an accurate screening method before implantation. Of 27 patients who underwent dorsal column stimulator implants, the last three patients also underwent ventral column stimulator implants. Results in the patients with both implants tend to predict much better results with the possibility that ventral column stimulation alone is sufficient.