Citation Year Title, Authors
Number and type of primary studies
With or without metaanalysis
Population
Intervention
Comparator
Outcome measures
Outcome measures
Primary
Secondary
Findings
Included Excluded
Summary Finding
Quality
Effective, statistically significant
?Cochrane review
Indeterminate or of limited effect Likely to be ineffective or potentially harmful
Dretzke (2011) (193) The clinical and costeffectivene ss of neurostimu lation for relief of chronic/ne
196
Two RCTs for SCS
Without metaanalysis
FBSS, CRPS
SCS
Conventional medical treatment
Pain reduction by at least 50%
Functional ability, EQ-5D improvement
terms of pain scores, range of motion, and QOL. Patients in the intra-articular corticosteroid injections had improved pain scores and shoulder disability scores compared to suprascapular nerve RF. In another study, suprascapular nerve RF has been shown to be effective up to 6 months FBSS: One trial (PROCESS) reported at least 50% pain reduction at 6 months compared to patients receiving conventional medical management and the effect was
Chronic Pain Health Needs Assessment
SCS for FBSS: Effective, statistically significant SCS for CRPS I: effective, statistically significant
OCEBM level
Comments
Level 1
FBSS: Evidence suggests that SCS is more effective than conventional medical management or re-operation in terms of pain relief. SCS may be more
PRISMA – items not reported Critical Appraisal bias, heterogeneity, size of effect estimate and precision, generalizability
Not Cochrane review