Newcastle Hospitals performs UK’s first adolescent spinal cord stimulation implantation

UK—Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has implanted a spinal cord stimulator (SCS) in an 18-year-old patient, making him the first adolescent in the UK and one of the youngest patients globally to receive the neuromodulation therapy for pain management.

Ralph Seed, from Washington in Tyne and Wear, has lived with severe foot pain caused by complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) for five years.

The rare condition became so debilitating that he could no longer walk or put weight on his foot.

At one point, the severity of his pain led him to ask doctors whether amputation was an option.

However, conventional treatments, including painkillers and physiotherapy, failed to provide adequate relief.

As a result, surgeons at Newcastle Hospitals offered Seed the opportunity to receive Medtronic’s Inceptiv SCS system.

 Until then, clinicians in the UK had used SCS implants only in adults.

Closed-loop technology targets pain signals

Inceptiv uses closed-loop technology to monitor and adjust stimulation in response to changes in the spinal cord.

The system delivers mild electrical impulses that interfere with pain signals before they reach the brain, potentially providing more responsive pain control.

Medtronic received a CE mark for Inceptiv in August 2023, followed by clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in April 2024.

Because Seed was the youngest person in the UK to undergo an SCS implantation, his medical team first performed an exploratory procedure.

During this initial stage, clinicians inserted the device’s leads into his lower back to stimulate the spinal cord and assess his response before proceeding with the full implantation.

Immediate improvement after surgery

Dr Sachin Rastogi, consultant anaesthetist, and Akbar Hussain, consultant neurosurgeon and functional neurosurgeon, performed the procedure at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, part of the Newcastle Hospitals group.

According to the clinical team, Seed experienced an immediate and dramatic reduction in pain when they activated the device following surgery.

“The results were immediate and unprecedented for a device like this. Seeing the impact of being pain-free for Ralph is simply one of the most moving things I have experienced in my career,” said Dr Rastogi.

He added that the closed-loop SCS approach had not previously been used in the UK for an adolescent with this type of pain.

He suggested that Seed’s young and adaptable nervous system may have contributed to his strong response to the treatment.

Growing role of spinal cord stimulation

SCS is a form of neuromodulation used to treat chronic and severe nerve pain affecting the trunk, arms or legs when conventional treatments have failed.

The technology is increasingly being used as clinicians explore alternatives for patients who do not respond adequately to standard pain management approaches.

Meanwhile, a recent GlobalData report forecasts that the North American SCS market will reach US$3.5 billion by 2033.

The market has also attracted growing attention from major medical technology companies.

At the North American Neuromodulation Society (NANS) annual meeting in January, Boston Scientific presented data highlighting the benefits of its SCS therapies.

Abbott also presented findings from its SCS portfolio, including a retrospective analysis of more than 16,000 patients.

The analysis found that the company’s SCS therapy was associated with an average 75% reduction in short- and long-term pain-related healthcare visits after five years of treatment.