A 47-year old female patient with failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS) resulting in chronic low back and bilateral leg pain of 7-8/10 on the numeric rating scale (NRS) was treated with 10 kHz spinal cord stimulation (HF10-SCS) and coincidentally reported improvement in bladder function from this therapy. At presentation, she was experiencing incontinence and self-catheterizing 4-5 times a day due to overactive bladder refractory to Botox injections. The Incontinence Impact Questionnaire (IIQ-7) and Urogenital Distress Inventory (UDI-6) scores at baseline were 80/100 and 67/100, respectively.
A successful 2-week HF10-SCS trial with percutaneous leads resulted in 80% pain reduction, NRS improvements for low back (2-3), bilateral buttock (0) and leg (0), ability to sleep through the night, mood improvement and reduced need for self-catheterization. During the 5 weeks between trial and permanent implant, both pain and bladder function returned back to baseline. Once implanted, symptoms improved again to end-of-trial values. At the last follow-up (10 months) 70% pain reduction was reported with NRS of 2, 1 and 1 for low back, bilateral buttock and leg, respectively. IIQ-7 and UDI-6 scores improved substantially to 9 and 21, respectively. Self-catheterization frequency was reduced by over a half, accompanied by a sharp decrease in urinary tract infections.

IMPROVEMENT IN BLADDER FUNCTION FOLLOWING HIGH-FREQUENCY SPINAL CORD STIMULATION AT 10 KHZ: A CASE REPORT