Prevention of percutaneous electrode migration in spinal cord stimulation by a modification of the standard implantation technique.

OBJECT: Percutaneous spinal cord stimulation (SCS) electrodes are prone to migration even after scar tissue encapsulation. The authors devised a simple technique to eliminate longitudinal migration.
METHODS: In 99 patients who received implanted percutaneous electrodes, less than 0.1 cm3 of silicone elastomer adhesive was injected between the anchoring sleeve and the electrode. As a result, no patient required revision surgery due to longitudinal electrode migration over a mean follow-up period of 20.2 +/- 12.3 months (range 1.8-39.7 months). Postimplant SCS-related surgical procedures were required in 15 patients (15%) for the following indications: infection in three patients, expanded area of pain in four patients, lateral migration after the sutures eroded through the supraspinous ligament in one patient, postural changes in stimulation in one patient, receiver-site pain in two patients, technical failure in three patients, and inadequate pain relief in one patient.
CONCLUSIONS: With modification of the standard technique for implantation of percutaneous SCS electrodes, no longitudinal migration of electrodes was noted in this series of 99 patients.