Pain & Spasticity

Neuromodulation for the Treatment of Pain & Spasticity

Principal Investigator: Kevin Kilgore, Ph.D.

Project Description: Pain is a major health problem and is the most common reason that people seek medical care. In the United States, up to 45% of the population is expected to seek medical care for persistent pain at some point in their lives. Over 75 million of Americans are totally or partially disabled by serious pain, and more than 50 million suffer from chronic nonmalignant pain [American Pain Society, 2003]. Chronic pain is the second leading cause of medically related work absenteeism. The Nuprin Pain Report [1985] specifically notes that 4 billion work days are lost each year that result in a financial loss to the economy in the amount of $79 billion per year.

The economic impact of pain as the leading cause of disability in the working-age population has had a significant effect on both private disability plans and the Social Security system [Harris et al., 1996; Business and Health, 1997]. Despite these substantial economic and social costs of chronic pain, the majority of chronic pain is being treated inadequately [Portenoy, 1995].

The significance of our approach to pain suppression utilizing a novel electrical current waveform delivered near the nerve is substantial. First, unlike most pharmacological treatments, our method is directed to specific nerves and has no systemic effects. The effect can be instantaneously initiated, providing complete pain blockage for the nerve to which it is directed. The effect is reversible within milliseconds, restoring completely normal nerve activity. Unlike other types of electrical stimulation for pain, such as TENS, the mechanism of action of our method is completely understood (direct effect on the nerve membrane ion channels), and therefore, in many applications, the treatment success rate can be expected to be much higher. Any pain sensation has the potential to be blocked using this method, as long as the pain signals are traveling from the periphery to the CNS. The unique features of this method may be particularly applicable to acute post-operative pain and to cancer pain.