Peripheral Nerve Stimulation for the Treatment of Knee Pain

Abstract

Knee pain from neuropathic pathology is a common problem after total knee replacement, arthroscopic surgery, and trauma. Treatment for this painful, lifestyle-limiting, neuropathic syndrome has included injections, pulsed radiofrequency, oral medications such as chronic opioids, physical medicine, and additional surgery. Advanced techniques, which have been successful in many patients with severe pain, have included spinal cord stimulation, intrathecal drug delivery, and most recently, dorsal root ganglion spinal cord stimulation (DRG-SCS). This focused chapter describes the techniques involved in placing a peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) system for the treatment of neuropathic knee pain.