Improvement of gait disturbance after spinal cord stimulation for a patient with failed back surgery syndrome: A triaxial accelerometer study

Abstract

Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is essentially used to relieve chronic neuropathic pain that is resistant to medication, but it might also improve motor function. Triaxial accelerometry can objectively and quantitatively assess walking. This report describes a 46‒year‒old woman with failed back surgery syndrome that resulted in lower extremity pain and spasticity, which SCS subjectively and visually improved. Values for cadence, speed, step length, floor reaction, coefficients of variance, time per step, number of steps and walking cycles under SCS OFF determined by triaxial accelerometry considerably differed from those of controls, whereas most of those determined under SCS ON were similar to those of controls. Therefore, triaxial accelerometry can objectively assess the effects of SCS.