Successful treatment with spinal cord stimulation for pain due to eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis: a case report

Abstract

Background Although most patients of eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) experience a reduction in pain within several weeks to months of the initiation of immunotherapies, some suffer from residual neuropathic symptoms for a long time. Case presentation A 28-year-old woman diagnosed with EGPA visited. She had been treated with steroid pulse therapy, intravenous immunoglobulin, and mepolizumab (antiinterleukin-5 agent). Her symptoms other than peripheral neuropathy improved, but posterior lower thigh pain and weakness of the lower legs worsened. At the initial visit, she used crutches and complained of numb pain in both posterior lower thighs, especially the left one. She also presented with left foot drop and reported a decreased tactile sensation on the lateral sides of both lower thighs. We performed spinal cord stimulation (SCS) at the L1 level on both sides. Her pain remarkably decreased, her tactile sensation improved, her muscle strength increased, and she was able to walk without crutches. Conclusions We herein report the first case of lower extremity pain being successfully treated with SCS in an EGPA patient who did not respond well to drug therapy. Because the cause of pain in EGPA is neuropathy induced by vasculitis, there is ample ability for SCS to improve this pain. When pain is neuropathic, whatever the cause, SCS may be worth trying, even for pain from disorders other than EGPA.