Autologous fat grafting for management of pain at spinal cord implantable pulse generator sites

Early human evidence such as case series or small samples is exploring possible benefits.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Implantable pulse generator site pain is prevalent in 4 to 12 percent of patients with the spinal cord stimulators. We have used a case series of 4 patients aged 46 to 79, to demonstrate pain relief at the implant site via the use of autologous fat grafting. All patients experienced an improvement of 33.3 % to 75 % in pain scores within a few weeks of the procedure. Up to a 21 month follow up date, there was still pain relief with no complications. Subsequently, we propose that autologous fat grafting may be effective and safe in pain management at the implant pulse generator sites. Further studies with larger case series and long term follow up is needed for validation.

Evidence level

Early human evidence such as case series or small samples is exploring possible benefits.

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