Spinal cord stimulation has been investigated by us during the past 10 years in the treatment of various disorders of the motor system. The effectiveness was studied in 735 cases, including cerebral palsy (212), dystonia (129), torticollis (66), spinal cord injury (169), and degenerative diseases (159). Our results indicate that in properly selected patients, stimulating the spinal neural axis is therapeutically effective in the majority of the cases treated. Our data demonstrate that the level stimulated, the pattern and the polarity of the applied field, and the frequency of the stimulation are critical to achieve a satisfactory therapeutic result and must be individualized in each patient.

This report is a continuation of our previous report on chronic spinal cord stimulation in disorders of the motor system. Improved statistics were observed following changing from the early conventional two-electrode system to a newly developed four-electrode system. The success of the four-electrode system lies in the analysis of both the electrode combinations and the frequency of stimulation. These are carried out on each patient and remain the most critical aspects of the technique. The details of the multiple lead system – the technique of implantation and protocols for carrying out electrode and frequency analysis – are presented.

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