Patient-Reported Outcomes With 10 kHz Spinal Cord Stimulation in Routine Clinical Practice: A Real-World Study With Up to Seven Years of Follow-Up

ContextHigh-frequency spinal cord stimulation at 10 kHz (10 kHz-SCS) has been validated for the treatment of various chronic pain conditions through large, multicenter, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and realworld observational studies.However, evidence on whether pain relief is durable over the long term in routine clinical practice remains limited, as most studies report outcomes within the first one to two years of therapy. ObjectivesThis study presents a retrospective, single-center analysis describing patient-reported pain relief and explant rates with 10 kHz-SCS in patients treated for chronic pain in the trunk or limbs, with individual follow-up ranging from less than one year to more than seven years. MethodsData from patients implanted with a 10 kHz-SCS device between February 2017 and June 2024 at Claremont Pain Clinic (Perth, Western Australia) were retrospectively extracted from a post-market surveillance database.Assessments included pain relief, responder rates (defined as achieving ≥50% reduction in pain from pre-implantation), and patient-reported improvements in sleep quality, physical function, and changes in analgesic use. ResultsThis review yielded a total of 147 patients who had received a 10 kHz-SCS implant, and data analysis was performed on all patients with outcome data available (119/147).At last follow-up, 83.2% (99/119) of patients with available data reported ≥50% pain relief with 10 kHz-SCS.Mean reported pain relief among patients whose most recent assessment fell within each period was 61.8% in the early period (0-2 years), 57.9% in the intermediate period (2-5 years), and 67.0% in the late period (>5 years).Among patients with available data, 86.7% (65/75) reported improvements in function, 79.0% (60/76) reported improvement in sleep, and 40.3% (31/77) reported reduced analgesic medication intake for chronic pain. ConclusionThis study observed clinically meaningful pain relief with 10 kHz-SCS in patients with available follow-up, including those assessed more than five years following implantation.Most patients with available data also reported improvements in physical function, sleep quality, and analgesic use.This real-world single-center analysis provides supportive data on long-term patient-reported outcomes in patients treated with 10 kHz SCS therapy, although longitudinal studies with validated measures are needed to confirm durability.