Health-related quality of life and spinal cord stimulation in painful diabetic neuropathy

Peripheral neuropathic pain, including painful diabetic neuropathy (PDN), is associated with marked negative impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The magnitude of reduction of HRQoL experienced by individual PDN patients appears to be strongly associated with their level of pain and disease severity. In spite of the availability of a range of pharmacotherapy, a substantive proportion of PDN patients continue to experience suboptimal HRQoL. Such patients are potential candidates for spinal cord stimulation (SCS) devices. Three randomised controlled trials in over 300 patients with refractory PDN have shown that the addition of SCS to standard of care therapy results in important health gains, including pain reduction and enhancement of HRQoL. Sham-controlled RCTs that enable blinding of patients, clinicians and researchers are needed to confirm the role of SCS in PDN.