A case of painful leg muscle cramps after spinal surgery successfully treated with spinal cord stimulation

Abstract

Spinal cord electrical stimulation (SCS) is effective for intractable neuropathic pain and ischemic pain, but there has been no report of effectiveness for leg muscle cramps. We report a case in which SCS was effective for painful leg muscle cramps. A 46-year-old woman had leg pain due to lumbar spinal stenosis. Posterior decompression and fusion surgery were performed, but her pain did not improve and she developed leg muscle cramps. Her symptoms were resistant to medication, but were temporarily improved by epidural block and nerve loot block. Therefore, we planned SCS to improve her symptoms. SCS decreased the intensity of pain and disappeared muscle cramps. SCS may be an option for the therapy of intractable muscle cramps due to lumbar spinal stenosis.