Proposal for Chinese Expert Consensus on Transcutaneous Spinal Cord Stimulation for Painful Diabetic Neuropathy (2024)

China has the highest prevalence of diabetes worldwide, leading to substantial healthcare expenditures and a growing burden of diabetes-related complications. Among these, painful diabetic neuropathy (PDN) has become a major public health issue that significantly reduces patients’ quality of life. Conventional treatments, such as blood glucose control and pharmacotherapy, provide limited efficacy and benefit only a subset of patients. In recent years, spinal cord stimulation (SCS) has emerged as an effective therapeutic approach for PDN, particularly with the advancement of high-frequency spinal cord stimulation (HF-SCS) technology, which has demonstrated superior clinical outcomes. To address the increasing clinical need for standardized management, the Neuromodulation Professional Committee of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association has developed the Chinese Expert Consensus on Percutaneous Spinal Cord Stimulation for the Treatment of Painful Diabetic Neuropathy (2024). This consensus aims to offer scientific and practical guidance for the clinical application of SCS in PDN. It follows both international and domestic guideline standards and employs the Delphi method and expert panel discussions to formulate evidence-based recommendations. The consensus seeks to optimize treatment strategies, improve patient outcomes, identify existing research gaps, and guide future studies to strengthen the evidence base for standardized PDN diagnosis and management in China.