Dorsal Root Ganglion Stimulation

Dorsal Root Ganglion Stimulation

People who live with chronic pain don't suffer for only a couple of weeks but months affecting their daily lives and mental health. This type of pain can continue even after the cause of illness or injury has been healed or disappeared. To treat chronic pain, doctors tend to prescribe medication, which can lead to overdose and addiction. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, approximately 21 to 29 percent of patients who have been prescribed opioids for chronic pain misuse them.

The doctors at ReMeDy Medical Group understand that nobody wants to live in discomfort and pain, and there are alternatives to treat your chronic pain. Dorsal root ganglion (DRG) stimulation is designed to treat chronic pain using electrical pulses to disrupt pain signals to reach the brain. This treatment targets pain concentrated in the lower limbs due to complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) or causalgia.

Benefits of Dorsal Root Ganglion Stimulation

The DRG stimulation has proven to be effective and safe for managing chronic pain. Here are four benefits for targeting the DRG stimulation for pain relief:

• Directed anatomical targeting
• Low energy requirements
• Marginal risk of lead migration
• Minimal postural effects

How does Dorsal Root Ganglion Stimulation Work?

Your body translates pain by sending messages to the nervous system through electrical signals, traveling from nerve to nerve until it reaches the brain's destination. This therapy aims explicitly at the DRG, which contains cells for sensory nerves that carry sensory information that travel through nerve fibers along the spinal column to the brain. Pain signals from all over your body must pass through DRG as they go to your brain.

Based on the location of your pain, the doctors at ReMeDy Medical Group can tell which DRG your pain signals pass through. The doctor will then begin by inserting a small incision in your back area and using a small needle to place one or more leads that will deliver the stimulation to your nerves that correlates to your pain. The leads are set against the DRG to connect with the generator. The generator will produce mild electric pulses that travel through the leads to your DRG. These pulses should intercept and block signals from reaching the brain, helping to reduce pain. At the end of the surgery, you will be given a remote control to turn the system off and on, adjust the stimulation level, and switch between programs to alleviate their pain.

Schedule your appointment today at one of our pain management centers in San Mateo, San Francisco, or Oakland.