Spinal cord stimulation relieves back pain without opioids

Washington: Doctors who treat patients suffering from back pain are exploring new approaches that help some patients avoid opioid drugs. The highly addictive prescription painkillers are fueling an epidemic of abuse and overdose deaths. One opioid-free option available at the Washington University Pain Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital involves stimulating the spinal cord with very short pulses of electricity. Patients can’t feel the electrical stimulation, yet it often effectively can mask the perception of pain. Spinal cord simulation to relieve pain is not new. It first was introduced many years ago, but older stimulators produce a tingling sensation designed to replace pain with less unpleasant tingling. The newer, high-frequency spinal cord stimulators deliver more energy but without the tingling sensations.

Researchers identify biomarker to speed diagnosis in brain and spinal cord inflammation

Mayo Clinic: Research from Mayo Clinic included in the November issue of JAMA Neurology identifies a new biomarker for brain and spinal cord inflammation, allowing for faster diagnosis and treatment of patients. Vanda Lennon, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues identified the new biomarker in spinal fluid and blood serum of patients with a neurological disorder called autoimmune meningoencephalomyelitis. The biomarker is an antibody. Antibodies are molecules used by the immune system to fight infections or cancer. When an antibody is directed against healthy tissue by a misguided immune system, as it is in this disorder, it is called an autoantibody.

Scientists Find Key Protein For Spinal Cord Repair

Duke: A freshwater zebrafish costs less than two bucks at the pet store, but it can do something priceless: Its spinal cord can heal completely after being severed, a paralyzing and often fatal injury for humans.

While watching these fish repair their own spinal cord injuries, Duke University scientists have found a particular protein important for the process. Their study, published Nov. 4 in the journal Science, could generate new leads into tissue repair in humans.

Promising results in mice raise hope of treatment for spinal cord injury

London: A group of drugs being trialled for cancer could also hold promise as a treatment for spinal cord injury, a study in mice suggests. Nutlins, which have been found safe in early cancer trials, promoted nerve regrowth and caused functional improvements in a mouse model of spinal cord injury. If further studies in animals prove successful, the drugs could be tested in human patients within five to 10 years.

FDA approves spinal cord stimulation system that treats pain without tingling sensation

FDA: Today the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the Senza spinal cord stimulation (SCS) system (Senza System) as an aid in the management of chronic intractable pain of the trunk and/or limbs, including pain associated with failed back surgery syndrome, low back pain and leg pain. The Senza System can reduce pain without producing a tingling sensation called paresthesia by providing high frequency stimulation (at 10 KHz) and low stimulation amplitudes. 

New software helps improve spinal surgery safety

Johns Hopkins: In approximately one of every 3,110 spine surgeries, the surgery is delivered to an unintended level of the spine. The impact of such errors ranges from minor complications to serious ones requiring revision surgeries. Much of the problem stems from the challenge of identifying target vertebrae in the X-ray image taken at the beginning of surgical procedures. A new software program works seamlessly with current procedures to assist the surgeon’s decision about which vertebra to target by accurately labeling vertebrae in the X-ray image in seconds.

Hot on the heels of discovering a protective form of immune response to spinal cord injury...

Virginia University: Hot on the heels of discovering a protective form of immune response to spinal cord injury, researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have pinpointed the biological trigger for that response – a vital step toward being able to harness the body’s defenses to improve treatment for spine injuries, brain trauma, Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative conditions.

Promising new research for spinal cord regeneration

UWA. Australia: In Australia, many victims of spinal cord injury are young men whose lives are changed in an instant, and Western Australia - with its love of cars, sport and the great outdoors - has twice as many cases as other Australian states.

'Bionic' spinal implant helped paralysed rats walk

NHS. UK: "Elastic implant 'restores movement' in paralysed rats," BBC News reports after researchers developed an implant that can be used to treat damaged spinal cords in rats. The spinal cord, which is present in all mammals, is a bundle of nerves that runs from the brain through the spine, before branching off to different parts of the body.

Neuroprosthetics for paralysis: an new implant on the spinal cord

Ecole Polytechnique de Lausanne. Switzerland: New therapies are on the horizon for individuals paralyzed following spinal cord injury. The e-Dura implant developed by EPFL scientists can be applied directly to the spinal cord without causing damage and inflammation. The device is described in an article appearing online January 8, 2015, in Science.

Drug found to help repair spinal cord injuries

NHS: A new drug could help people with spinal cord injuries, from a study in rats.
This hope is due to the possibility of developing a new drug based on a molecule called intracellular sigma peptide. The drug helped restore varying degrees of nerve functions in rats that had spinal cord injuries.

Barrier-breaking drug may lead to spinal cord injury treatments

NIH. Scientists take first step towards developing promising new drug
Injections of a new drug may partially relieve paralyzing spinal cord injuries, based on indications from a study in rats, which was partly funded by the National Institutes of Health.