I have had a 3 level cervical fusion, as well as a 2 lvl lumbar fusion. I have chronic pain in my neck/shoulder over to my right arm and down to my fingers (which burn like put in a fire) along with chronic pain in my lower back and left leg. The back and leg pain is due to quite a bit of scar tissue embedding the nerves at the L4/L5 and L5/S1 levels. We haven't done an MRI on my neck in a couple years to determine if there is anything new causing all the burning yet. The MRI done 2 years ago did show a mild bulge at the C7/T1 level. At that time, my neurosurgeon told me if this disc has to be repaired, I am looking at a MAJOR surgery to remove the hardware from the above 3 levels and putting in a cage with necessary hardware for 4 levels. The mobility in my neck would be greatly compromised. I told him I would live with this for as many years as I can because of that.

Anyway, my pain doc and I discussed the scs for both areas. I don't want 2 implants. That is just a personal choice because I know how foggy my brain gets. I am afraid I would gear up the wrong remote for the pain lol Anyway, Boston Scientific has a multiple lead SCS that has been approved by the FDA a few weeks ago. When I discussed this with my SCS Rep (who is also an RN), she said it was very possible to get relief in both areas using the multiple leads and only one implant. The downfall can be those longer leads. If the implant is done at the hip level, the leads will basically go from the neck down to the lower back. I am not clear on whether the implant can be done at a mid point to split the difference of the long leads. The longer leads isn't very appealing to me if they are doing paddle leads creating that long incision.

I am by far an expert on this multiple lead implant but it is something that my doc wants to discuss with me at my next appt. He was going to have a consult with the surgeon prior to my appt to discuss this option with me.

Anyway, I just thought I would throw this out there just because it was mentioned to me a couple weeks ago.

Jami in TN

I'm scheduled to get 2 implants. When I asked if we could run all the leads off of one, I was told that it would be possible but probably not a good idea. If I ever needed more stimulation in either the lumbar or cervical area, then the one implant wouldn't give me enough juice to get the increased stimulation I was looking for. So, I've decided to go with two implants. Maybe they've come up with an implant that CAN handle two areas now?