ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--St. Jude Medical, Inc., a global medical device company, today announced the U.S. launch and first post-approval implants of the St. Jude Medical Axium™ Neurostimulator System for dorsal root ganglion (DRG) stimulation to treat patients with chronic pain that has been hard to control with traditional spinal cord stimulation (SCS). First commercial implants of the device occurred at the Center for Pain Relief in Charleston, W.Va. by Dr. Timothy Deer, and at the Sutter Santa Rosa Surgery and Endoscopy Center in Santa Rosa, Calif., by Dr. Jason Pope.

In the coming weeks, DRG implants will occur in half the states in the United States. St. Jude Medical has already partnered with implanting chronic pain specialists who will conduct more than 100 procedures in 59 centers nationwide in the first month after launch. Over the course of the year, the company expects to have more than 300 physicians across the country trained to effectively deliver DRG therapy to patients in immediate need of targeted stimulation to alleviate chronic pain resulting from moderate to severe chronic intractable pain of the lower limbs in adult patients with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) types I and II.

“Although many chronic pain patients can find relief from a traditional spinal cord stimulation device, many patients suffering from focal chronic pain including CRPS I and II don’t receive adequate pain relief from spinal cord stimulation,” Dr. Deer said. “Adding dorsal root ganglion stimulation with the Axium neurostimulator system to my therapeutic arsenal is an exciting step in the treatment of chronic intractable pain of the groin, knee and foot. I’m impressed with the speed in which I am able to reach and stimulate the dorsal root ganglion, something I was unable to do before the Axium neurostimulator system. For the first time, I now have a device designed specifically for the large and growing number of under-treated chronic pain patients I could not previously serve.”
Stimulation of the DRG, a spinal structure densely populated with sensory nerves that transmit information to the brain via the spinal cord, allows physicians to treat the specific areas of the body where pain occurs. The St. Jude Medical Axium neurostimulator system is the only therapeutic approach of its kind designed to treat moderate to severe chronic intractable pain of the lower limbs in adult patients with CRPS. Patients with CRPS are often underserved by conventional medical management and many interventional pain procedures. Many patients have tried multiple treatment options without receiving adequate pain relief.

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