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CC BY 4.0 · Surg J (N Y) 2021; 07(01): e11-e13
DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1722179
Case Report

Successful Reimplantation of Spinal Cord Stimulator One Year after Device Removal Due to Infection

Ruben H. Schwartz 
1   Department of Anesthesiology, Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, Florida
,
Warren Southerland 
2   Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care, and Pain Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
,
Ivan Urits 
2   Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care, and Pain Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
,
Alan D. Kaye 
3   Department of Anesthesiology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, Louisiana
,
Omar Viswanath 
4   Valley Anesthesiology and Pain Consultants – Envision Physician Consultants, Phoenix, Arizona
5   Department of Anesthesiology, University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, Phoenix, Arizona
6   Department of Anesthesiology, Creighton University School of Medicine, Omaha, Nebraska
,
Cyrus Yazdi 
2   Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care, and Pain Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
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Abstract

Spinal cord stimulation is an effective treatment modality for patients with numerous pain conditions. Although proven to be highly successful, device implantation does come with some inherent risks. One of the most challenging complications is perioperative infection. For most patients, a simple trial of oral antibiotics and in-office drainage of any superficial infectious material may be sufficient. Deeper infections with wound dehiscence necessitate device removal and intravenous antibiotic therapy. The question remains, if the device was previously providing pain relief for the patient, when is the appropriate time to reimplant the device after the infection has cleared? We describe the case of explantation of an infected device and successful reimplantation after 1 year.

Keywords

spinal cord stimulator - infection - interventional pain medicine

Author Contributions

Schwartz, Ruben, DO; Southerland, Warren, MD; Urits, Ivan, MD, interpreted the data and drafted and revised the article.


Kaye, Alan, MD; Viswanath, Omar, MD; Cyrus Yazdi, MD interpreted the data, and drafted and critically revised the article.


Patient Consent

Informed consent was provided by the patient for this case report.




Publication History

Received: 05 March 2020

Accepted: 24 August 2020

Article published online:
01 February 2021

© 2021. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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