The first 10 patients with chronic pain that did not respond to drug treatment underwent preliminary neurostimulation testing at the neurosurgical service of GKB No. 40. Five of them were selected for the installation of a permanent device. Such an opportunity appeared for the residents of the Sverdlovsk region already in the second hospital, thanks to the state program for the massive introduction of high medical technologies, provided for by the national project «Healthcare».

Vladimir Kolotvinov, Candidate of Medical Sciences, Deputy chief of GKB No. 40 for neurosurgery, Candidate of medicine, Chief External Neurosurgeon of the Ministry of Health of the Sverdlovsk region and the Ural Federal District, noticed «Doctors of GKB No. 40 have been trained and have received the right to practice this progressive technique. The operation is quite complicated in technical terms. At the same time, it remains absolutely safe and minimally invasive for the patient, lasts about 40 minutes and does not require anesthesia».

The mechanism of anesthesia is as follows: through an electrode installed inside the spine, the current from the generator is supplied to the spinal cord. The art of the doctor is to bring the electrode exactly to the part of the spinal cord that is responsible for the patient’s pain. Than the electrode is connected to the stimulator. It is responsible for the current supply mode for a particular patient. If the testing stage was successful, the pain is gone, then the doctor implants a permanent small, 45-gram stimulator. Now the patient himself, with the help of a pocket device, will be able to turn on and off the stimulator like a normal tablet, change the modes recommended for him by the doctor. As a result, the patient is completely and permanently relieved of pain.

Sergey Lulin, Doctor of Medical Sciences, professor of Neurology Diseases,  Neurosurgery and Medical Genetics Department of USMU, is an expert in spinal surgery and a neurosurgeon at GKB No. 40, tells «There are a lot of patients with chronic pain syndrome. Before the introduction of this technology in the neurosurgery of the GKB No. 40, they were sent to federal neurosurgical centers, prescribed narcotic substances for life. Now we can help this group of patients through the spinal cord stimulation system».

Recall that in November last year, such devices began to be installed in the Sverdlovsk Regional Oncological Dispensary.