DTM™ spinal cord stimulation shows superior back pain relief in RCT

Medtronic plc, a Dublin-based medical technology, services, and solutions company, has reportedly announced three-month results from a large, multicenter RCT (randomized controlled trial) demonstrating statistically meaningful (p=0.0009) and improved back pain relief with DTM (Differential Target Multiplexed) SCS (Spinal Cord Stimulation) compared to conventional SCS. Both arms have used the company’s Intellis™ platform.

Reportedly, the three-month outcomes demonstrated 80% of chronic back pain patients treated with DTM registered minimum 50% pain relief, compared to 51% of the patients treated with conventional SCS, as measured by VAS (Visual Analog Scale).

Meanwhile, the RCT showed great pain relief and substantial reductions in leg and back pain with DTM. 63% of patients with back pain treated with DTM showed great pain relief of 80% or more compared to 26% treated with conventional SCS.

All in all, patients treated with DTM demonstrated an average of 74% decrease in back pain compared to 46% with conventional SCS for three months period. Likewise, improvements were noted with DTM for leg pain with a mean decrease of 72% compared to 59% with conventional SCS.

Matt Thomas, General Manager and Vice President of the Stim and Early Interventions business, that is part of the Restorative Therapies Group at Medtronic, said that DTM therapy is the first customized SCS approach purposely created from new scientific concept and demonstrated in an RCT.

The clinical study determines that DTM therapy offers greater efficacy for chronic back pain patients compared to conventional stimulation. Moreover, when combined with Medtronic Intellis, patients could access superior results as displayed in the RCT on an unrivaled simulation platform.

For a record, Medtronic secured DTM therapy as part of its acquisition of Stimgenics declared in early January. DTM therapy is a new and unique programming option to treat patients who are suffering from chronic pain, and is based on years of preclinical research.

Source Credit - http://newsroom.medtronic.com/news-releases/news-release-details/dtmtm-spinal-cord-stimulation-using-medtronic-intellistm