Sustained and superior pain relief: After 12 months, a statistically significant number of patients receiving DRG stimulation achieved meaningful pain relief and greater treatment success when compared to patients receiving traditional SCS (74.2 percent vs. 53.0 percent).
Secondary endpoint data suggested:

Reduced paresthesia: At 12 months, more than a third of patients who received DRG stimulation were experiencing greater than 80 percent pain relief with no paresthesia. (Paresthesia is a light tingling sensation often accompanying traditional tonic spinal cord stimulation.)

Improvements in quality of life: At 12 months, DRG patients had statistically greater improvements in their physical component (p=0.04), general health (p=0.03) and social functioning (p=0.03) when compared to SCS subjects.

"Data such as these are critical to providing patients hope that there are treatment options out there that can provide meaningful pain relief for the excruciating pain CRPS sufferers deal with every day," said Jim Broatch, executive vice president and director of the Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome Association (RSDSA), a group specializing in providing resources for patients battling CRPS. "Our organization, which has focused for years on advancing treatments for patients with CRPS, applauds the physicians and patients who took part in this study and who have helped advance the understanding of this condition and the impact of DRG stimulation on improving the lives of patients everywhere."

Patients battling CRPS often face prolonged or excessive chronic pain following an injury or trauma. The condition is believed to be caused in part by damaged or malfunctioning nerves, and it affects the way the central and peripheral nervous systems transmit and receive pain signals. Stimulation with Abbott's Axium® Neurostimulation System targets nerves within the DRG, a spinal structure made up of sensory nerves. DRG stimulation has been clinically-proven to provide pain relief directly to the area of the body where pain occurs.


About Abbott's Chronic Pain Portfolio:
Chronic pain affects approximately 1.5 billion people worldwide, more than heart disease, cancer and diabetes combined. The condition can negatively impact personal relationships, work productivity and a patient's daily routine. Abbott is a global leader in the development of chronic pain therapy solutions and the only medical device manufacturer in the world to offer radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and spinal cord stimulation (SCS) therapy solutions including BurstDR stimulation and stimulation of the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) for the treatment of chronic pain.

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