Breakthrough Treatment for Chronic Pain: Evoke Spinal Cord Stimulation

An estimated 540 million people worldwide suffer from chronic pain. If you’re one of them, there is a new minimally invasive breakthrough treatment that could relieve your chronic back or leg pain, and it’s now available at Orlin & Cohen.

The Evoke^® closed-loop spinal cord stimulation system is a novel treatment option for chronic back or leg pain that hasn’t responded well to other treatment options. While spinal cord stimulation has been used to effectively relieve chronic pain for over 50 years, Evoke is the first technology that measures and records your body’s response to the stimulation and makes millions of real-time adjustments daily to deliver long-term, sustained chronic pain relief.

The pain management specialists at Orlin & Cohen, one of the few practices on Long Island offering Evoke, explain what it treats and how it works so you can decide if it’s right for you.

What Causes Chronic Pain? 

The cause of chronic pain isn’t always clear, but its impact on your life—from your work to your family and social life—certainly is. What we do know is this: When you have an injury or illness, certain nerves send pain signals to your brain. With chronic pain, these pain signals keep going for weeks, months, or even years after you recover. Here are some of its major causes.

Injury

Minor injuries or damage to the body are a frequent cause of common pain. Events such as a work mishap, car accident, or fall can damage nerves or muscles in a way that can cause lasting pain.

Surgery

Surgical procedures on your back, neck, knee, or groin can sometimes lead to chronic pain due to nerve damage. In addition, many people continue to experience pain after back surgery—a condition so common it’s been named “failed back surgery syndrome” or FBSS.

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a type of chronic pain that affects an arm or leg, and it usually occurs after an injury or surgery. The exact cause of CRPS is not always clear, but it can lead to significant pain that’s out of proportion with the severity of the initial injury. Treatment is most effective when started early and can lead to improvement or even remission.

A New Treatment for Chronic Pain Relief: Evoke Closed-Loop Spinal Cord Stimulation

Regardless of the cause of your chronic back or leg pain, Evoke may offer you much-needed relief—even if other treatments have not—and dramatically enhance your quality of life.

The pain management team at Orlin & Cohen believes Evoke is a valuable advancement forward and will help improve patient outcomes. It joins our range of leading-edge chronic pain treatment options, including high-frequency spinal cord stimulation (HFX) and the Intracept Procedure.

How does it work? 

Evoke uses a small, implanted device called a closed-loop spinal cord stimulation (SCS) system. The system sends mild pulses to the spinal cord to interrupt pain signals before you feel them. It also comes with a mobile, handheld remote control that lets you adjust the strength and location of stimulation, or even turn stimulation off.

Is it effective? 

In an FDA-approved study of more than 130 patients, over 80 percent treated with Evoke and its unique sensing technology experienced consistent and enduring relief three years after treatment.

Long-term patient follow-up data published in the most prestigious peer-reviewed journals further demonstrates that patients treated with Evoke experience superior pain relief and improved quality of life, functional ability, sleep, and mood, as well as reduced opioid use.*

How will I know if it’s right for me?

You can try the SCS for a few days with a temporary system first to see if it works for you. The temporary system is placed through a simple outpatient procedure. Your pain management specialist will insert thin wires, called leads, in your lower back—without an incision. If you are satisfied with your pain relief during the trial, you can have the system implanted using a short, reversible procedure.

Frequently Asked Questions 

Before undergoing an Evoke implant, you’re sure to have questions about this chronic pain treatment, and spinal cord stimulation in general. Here are the answers to the most common ones.

What is spinal cord stimulation? 

Spinal cord stimulation is a minimally invasive technology that sends mild electrical pulses to the brain to mask pain signals. Modified by the pulses, the pain signals are either not perceived or are replaced by a tingling feeling. It has been proven safe and effective for more than 50 years.

Are you put to sleep for spinal cord stimulator surgery?

Yes. You will be given general anesthesia so you’re asleep and pain-free for the procedure, which takes about 30 to 45 minutes. The stimulator will be inserted under the skin of your abdomen or lower back through a small surgical cut.

Is a spinal cord stimulator painful?

The stimulation feels like a mild tingling in the area where the current is placed. Pain is reduced because the electrical current interrupts the pain signal from reaching the brain.

Think you’d like to join the 50,000 Americans who have the Evoke system placed each year? Speak to a pain management specialist at Orlin & Cohen. Immediate appointments are available. Request yours now.

*Mekhail N, Levy RM, Deer TR, et al. Long-term safety and efficacy of closed-loop spinal cord stimulation to treat chronic back and leg pain (Evoke): a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial. Lancet Neurol. 2020;19(2):123-134.