ÃÛÌÒAPP

A new device, which is implanted into the lower back to stimulate muscles and prevent debilitating pain, is having life-changing effects for the first patient to receive it at ÃÛÌÒAPP Hospitals.

The specialist pain management team at the Royal Victoria Infirmary have brought in the new technology which can bring major improvements for patients who may have suffered with severe mechanical low back pain for years.

Electrodes are placed in low back muscles which stimulate neuromuscular control – the signals between the brain and the muscles – in the hard-to-reach area around the spine.

The location of the device and the impact it can have means patients who can benefit will have the potential to be active again and recover wider aspects of their health and wellbeing.

Doctor Sachin Rastogi, consultant anaesthetist who specialises in chronic pain at ÃÛÌÒAPP Hospitals, said:

This technology can be life transforming. It’s potentially a cure for this particular type of low back pain where there is muscle weakness. It will really benefit a significant number of people who are suitable.”

The small device, called , is inserted into the lower back in a short operation under local anaesthetic, and uses electrodes to stimulate and strengthen the muscles.

“We put two electrodes into each side of the muscles deep in the lower back, just off the spine, and we connect those to an implanted battery, like a pacemaker,” he said.

“Twice a day, the patient switches it on for 30 minutes and it basically reactivates and stimulates the muscle to contract, building strength up again, and leading to improvements in function and pain.”

While there are many causes of low back pain, this technology is particularly suitable for these patients who are otherwise fit and healthy, and where conventional treatments such as physiotherapy, medicines, and injections have not been effective.

“Back pain is very common, and it gets more common as we get older,” said Sachin. “It can be complicated, with several different causes, and this is a treatment for a very specific type of lower back pain.

“You can’t exercise this muscle through physiotherapy, as it’s very deep in the spine. If it gets weak or loses function, the pathway from brain to muscle is lost, so this battery stimulates the muscles instead.”

Sachin plans to use the treatment for existing suitable patients at ÃÛÌÒAPP Hospitals and, to raise awareness of the treatment option more widely, for people who may currently be suffering in silence or having their lives affected by ongoing back pain.

Patient, Ashleigh Hughes, started experiencing sudden back problems in March 2020, when she woke up with severe pain in her lower back and down one leg.

“I had no injury, it just came on for an unknown reason and didn’t settle.”

The 38-year-old of Heaton, who works as a nurse at the Freeman Hospital, had numerous x-rays and scans and underwent a procedure to redirect the pain, along with injections and physiotherapy, none of which were effective.

“I would work a long shift and end up in pain for two days, I had to stop some of my clinical duties looking after patients and focus on the management side of my role, which was more desk based. At home I couldn’t walk far and after any activity like gardening I would be in a lot of pain afterwards.”

For four years Ashleigh was in a vicious cycle of trying pain killers and various procedures without any relief. 

“I was going through process of learning to live with the pain. I’m fairly young, so thinking this might be as good as it gets for the rest of your life is daunting and I became quite subdued.”

In March last year, Sachin suggested Ashleigh was suitable to try the device, so she underwent the short procedure to have it inserted and ‘switched on’.

Within three months she was feeling the benefits, with little to no back pain, and was determined to get active, exercise more and regain her positive mindset.

Since then, Ashleigh’s lost three stone, is a regular at the gym, is eating healthily and has stopped taking all of the pain killers.

Since I’ve had this device put in, it’s been a real transformation. “The pain has massively improved and I’m much stronger with more energy. I’m in a better position mentally, it’s been life changing for me.”