Sacral dorsal root ganglion stimulation

BACKGROUND: Herniated lumbar discs can induce sciatica by mechanical compression and/or chemical irritation. It was recently reported that neuroglial cellular activity after pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) application to a single dorsal root ganglion (DRG) attenuated neuroglial activity at the corresponding spinal dorsal horn. Recently, caudal epidural PRF has been used to manage neuropathic pain, but evidence of molecular changes after the administration of caudal epidural PRF to attenuate neuropathic pain is lacking, and it has not been determined whether caudal epidural PRF affects neuroglial activity at different spinal levels...

Chronic perineal pain limits patients in physical and sexual activities, leading to social and psychological distress. In most cases, this pain develops after surgery in the urogenital area or as a consequence of trauma. Neuromodulation is one of the options in chronic postsurgical perineal pain treatment. We present a case of refractory perineal pain after right sided surgical resection of a Bartholin's cyst which was treated with third sacral nerve root/dorsal root ganglion stimulation using the transforaminal approach...

BACKGROUND: Lumbosacral radicular pain is a common clinical finding with a statistical prevalence ranging from 9.9% to 25% in the general population. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effectiveness of dorsal root ganglion pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) in patients with chronic lumbosacral radicular pain and neuropathic features. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective case series clinical outcome study. METHODS: We evaluated 34 patients with lumbosacral neuropathic pain who underwent PRF at the corresponding level of radicular symptoms distribution (ranging from L3 to S1)...

The olfactory ensheathing cell (OEC) is a class of glial cell that has been reported to support regeneration in the central nervous system after various types of lesions, including rhizotomy of spinal dorsal roots at thoracic, lumbar and sacral levels. We have therefore carried out a detailed anatomical analysis to assess the efficacy of dorsal horn OEC transplants at promoting regeneration of primary afferents across the dorsal root entry zone (DREZ) at the cervical level in the adult rat. OECs were cultured from adult rat olfactory bulb and immunopurified (90% purity)...

Tachykinins have been implicated in inflammatory responses such as those occurring in inflammatory bowel disease. Accordingly, we investigated the effect of a selective neurokinin (NK) 2 receptor antagonist, nepadutant, on proto-oncogene expression in the L(6)-S(1) spinal cord as well as in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons after either non-noxious colorectal distension (CRD) or trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced colitis in the adult rat. In both preparations, c-fos was expressed in similar spinal cord regions, including medial and lateral dorsal horn, dorsal commissure (DCM; laminae X above the central canal), and the sacral parasympathetic nucleus (SPN, laminae V-VII)...

The number of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons, the relative number of capsaicin sensitive DRG cells and the diameter distribution of these neurons were investigated in the thoracic 11, lumbar 5 and sacral 1 DRG ganglia in young rats. The capsaicin sensitivity of DRG cells was shown by the stimulated cobalt uptake technique in in vitro conditions. Cobalt labelled and non-labelled neurons were counted using the dissector method. Our results show that the total number of DRG cells in the Th11, L5 and S1 segments (4200-6500 per ganglion) were not significantly different from each other and about 8% of these cells were capsaicin sensitive in the segments studied...

The effects of stimulation of vesical afferents on the electrical activity of the internal anal sphincter were studied in anaesthetized cats. Excitation of vesical afferents, either by electrical stimulation of nerves running at the vesico-ureteral junction or by bladder distension, produced (1) an increase in the electrical activity of the internal anal sphincter which was abolished by the alpha-blocker phentolamine (1.5 mg/kg, I.V.); (2) an inhibition of the excitatory response evoked in the internal anal sphincter by stimulation of one hypogastric nerve...

The blood vessels and the pial surface of the brain, spinal cord and its roots are innervated by primary afferent neurones. Here, we have electrophysiologically characterized the functional properties of a subpopulation of these afferent fibres that supply the ventral roots of the cat sacral spinal cord. We have taken advantage of the unique anatomical arrangement of these primary afferent neurones which have their central axon in the dorsal root and project with their peripheral process into the segmental ventral root...