Q&A: Spinal cord stimulation system offers nonopioid solution to pain management
Key takeaways:
- Spinal cord stimulation offers relief for patients who have not responded to other treatments for chronic neuropathic pain.
- Spinal cord stimulation devices reduce the need for opioid-based pain treatments.
The Prospera SCS system for pain management relieved pain, improved sleep and reduced opioid use at 24 months, according to interim results of the BENEFIT-03 study.
Healio spoke with BIOTRONIK Neuro president and CEO Todd Langevin, MBA, to discuss the future implications for clinicians and patients who utilize spinal cord stimulation (SCS) devices to address a range of pain management needs.
Healio: What unmet pain management needs spurred the development of the Prospera SCS system?
Langevin: While clinical studies confirm the long-term effectiveness for SCS, the data around explants hasn’t changed much over the last 20 years. One study evaluating the experience of more than 150 patients receiving SCS shows more than half discontinued therapy within 36 months. Traditional device management models rely heavily on patients to detect and report issues, which can cause delays in therapy optimization. SCS patients are spending an average of 58 days a year without optimized pain relief.
Patients shouldn’t need to be medical device experts to experience consistent relief. BIOTRONIK Neuro’s proactive care model uses daily remote monitoring to identify potential issues and intervene before they become a problem. The Embrace One Care Team reviews real-time data 7 days a week to rapidly identify issues and make timely, remote adjustments — and that frees patients to focus on living life.
Healio: For which types of pain would the system be best suited to address?
Langevin: An estimated 100 million adults in the U.S. suffer from chronic pain. Unfortunately, the path to pain management is often challenging for these individuals. SCS offers hope for relief to patients with chronic neuropathic pain who haven’t responded to other treatments.
Healio: With positive 24-month interim results from BENEFIT-03 in pocket, what do you predict the final data set would reveal upon the study’s conclusion?
Langevin: We’re certainly excited to see these strong long-term results with the system.
Patients and clinicians also reported positive experiences with the Prospera SCS system’s remote monitoring and remote programming capabilities, which enabled rapid resolution of issues to optimize therapy and reduced time burdens for both patients and clinicians.
These findings validate the growing body of evidence supporting proactive care and remote monitoring as effective strategies to optimize pain relief and mirror the real-world benefits our physicians and patients report. We think there is a likely chance these results will continue given the consistency we’ve observed thus far.
Healio: Can you elaborate on the cost-benefit analysis of an implanted device compared with pharmaceutical intervention?
Langevin: Patient candidates for implanted devices have typically tried pharmaceutical intervention without success. For these patients, this can mean uncontrolled pain, intolerable side effects or concerns over opioid dependence.
Not only does SCS offer an effective alternative for pain relief, it is shown to reduce — and in some cases eliminate — opioid use.
As the first and only system to offer automatic, objective, daily data transmission for remote monitoring and remote programming, Prospera allows therapy adjustments in real time, reducing the need for frequent in-person office visits and saving time and costs.
Healio: What do you believe are the short- and-long-term benefits of a SCS system that can be monitored remotely?
Langevin: The BENEFIT-03 evidence reinforcesthe research supporting proactive care and remote monitoring as effective strategies to optimize pain relief and advance patient care and demonstrate Prospera’s potential to address the challenges SCS patients face.
By facilitating faster issue identification and management, Prospera enables therapy optimization, which helps maintain not only relief but also patients’ belief in the therapy.
Prospera’s automatic, daily remote monitoring also gives physicians access to objective, real-time therapy data.
For the first time, they can confirm therapy adherence and quickly and easily see trends over a patient’s lifetime of therapy. This gives physicians extra information they can use to help inform their treatment decisions and ultimately improve patient outcomes.
References:
Amirdelfan K, et al. Patient burdens associated with spinal cord stimulation: impact of wait times to address device-related issues in a real-world cohort with chronic back and leg pain. Presented at: World Congress of the World Institute of Pain; Aug. 25-27, 2022; Budapest; Hungary.
Deer TR, et al. Neuromodulation. 2018;doi:10.111/ner.12698.
Fishman M, et al. Pain Pract. 2021;doi:10.1111/papr.13066.
Hagedorn JM, et al. Neuromodulation. 2021;doi:10.1111/ner.13359.
Hayek SM, et al. Neuromodulation. 2015;doi:10.1111/ner/12312.
Kapural L, et al. Anesthesiology. 2015;doi:10.1097/ALN.0000000000000774.
Mekhail N, et al. Lancet Neurol. 2020;doi:10.1016/S1474-4422(19)30414-4.
New data show significant pain relief, reduced opioid use, decreased patient time and cost Burdens with the Prospera SCS system. https://www.biotronik.com/en-int/new-data-show-significant-pain-relief-reduced-opioid-use-decreased-patient-time-and-cost-burdens. Published Jan. 29, 2025. Accessed Feb. 19, 2025.
North J, et al. Neuromodulation. 2020;doi:10.1111/ner.13015.
Pope JE, et al. Neuromodulation. 2017;doi:10.1111/ner.12634.
Russo M, et al. Proactive remote management enables Rapid SCS optimization: Interim 24-month results from a prospective multicenter study. Presented at: North American Neuromodulation Society Annual Meeting; Jan. 31, 2025; Orlando, FL.
Simopoulos T, et al. Pain Med. 2018;doi:10.1093/pm/pny245.
For More Information:
Todd Langevin, MBA, president and CEO of BIOTRONIK Neuro can be found online at: https://www.biotronik.com/en-us/embrace-life-again-1 and on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/biotronik-neuro/.