Objective evaluation of neuropathic pain-related sleep disorders treated by spinal cord stimulation: two case reports

Abstract

Although sleep disorders are serious complications of chronic pain, they have only been subjectively assessed on the basis of patients' complaints or questionnaires. Here, we report two neuropathic pain cases in which we objectively evaluated chronic pain-related sleep disorders with the use of actigraphy. Actigraphy is a wristwatch-typed medical instrument that can estimate participants' sleep/wake patterns. Both patients exhibited refractory pain and had severe sleeping difficulties. Having each patient wear an actigraphy, we determined the change of sleep efficiency before and after the introduction of spinal cord stimulation(SCS). We succeeded in objectively demonstrating how sleep quality improves by treating sleep disorders with SCS.