Anyone had an Abbott SCS put in? BurstDR strength setting?

Thank you for your helpful advise. Did you have any physical therapy sessions after your implant?

No PT after the surgery. Just followed the activity restrictions for about 6 weeks and then resumed normal activities.

I had the Abbott Spinal Cord Stimulator System implanted and Mass. Gen'l two years ago. Nothing but problems, have been back to the hospital numerous occassions and it still does not work.
I have tried to contact the Abbott Representative in Maine on numerous occassions with no success. I would not recommend either this device nor this company. Just a bad investment.

I had an Abbott Burst stimulator implanted in 2017 for pain in my feet and ankles from CIDP. It was wonderful to have 80% pain relief for a year. Over the next 3 years it gradually reduced its effectiveness. I still have it in and turned on, but I can't feel any improvement at all by now. A tech suggested an option of extending the leads to reach closer to my feet but I haven't heard anything from him about it for many months. I'd have it removed, but I'm concerned that if they can't get the leads completely out it might interfere with having an MRI.

I've heard that stimulators have been more effective for things such as back pain, less so for extremities.

You'll have a trial that should give you an idea if or how much it will help.

Jim

I had an Abbott stimulator implanted about 8 weeks ago for severe leg nerve pain. I went through the trial implant and I got one day of relief from both back and leg pain before one of the leads came loose. I was very hopeful to have the permanent one implanted but unfortunately haven't gotten any relief. I wasn't told that it can take several programming visits to get it going. Unfortunately the rep that I have is a nice guy but has very poor response time. At one point they had me turn it off to see if the pain got worse without it. I didn't see a difference and went for two weeks without any communication as what to do next. I finally heard back from my rep and was told to turn it back on. I turned it back on but I can't increase the power as the rep has me locked out as I reached the limit he put on it until we speak again. The only problem is that I don't know when that will be. I have a tele visit with my pain doctor today and will discuss the issues I am having with my rep. I don't feel it is my job to constantly contact the rep for additional steps. Right now the stimulator is just sitting in back doing nothing. The worst part is I want relief from leg pain without living on pain meds. Like you I have had several back surgeries with a build up of scar tissue along with a pinched nerve after the opening at the bottom of the spine. I have decided to meet with a new surgeon who is up to date with less invasive surgeries and he sending me for an EMG to confirm what he feels is the nerve from my L4 which he says is so pinched. My last 3 surgeries were done the old way of making large incisions which leave a lot of scar tissue along with my back looking like I have a zipper running up my spine. I go for the EMG next week to see if it is my L4 nerve. If it is I am going to take a chance with another surgery hoping for a positive outcome. I tried all the nerve blocks, ablations and epidurals with no relief. I hope this rambling has helped. Just remember the treatments from your pain doctor are only temporary at best if they work at all. Please keep us posted of your decision.

I have the Burst also. In the second month of operation and on my third program I had the absolute worst right leg pain in my life. So tech reprogrammed the unit. I have have nine, I think, programs and various power levels and the only thing that happened was the stimulator made my legs weak and they kept getting weaker to the point where I could not walk up any stairs. Tech installed more new programs. Nothing. I turned the unit off. And it has been off for months. I have regained leg strength and can go up stairs fairly easy now. Last week at my dermatologist he noticed the lump in my back and asked how well it is working. I said not at all. He said about 80% of his patients say the same thing. For a device that cost my insurance $250K, It sure hasn’t helped me one bit. I am living with tramadol, which my pain management provider would not give me, and Aleve. I also helped myself by losing 55 pounds.

I appreciate your comments on the Burst and how you are managing your pain. When I had the Burst, and of course like you, it was as a lump was protruding out, I had comments from people from the tennis courts, as I am slim at 120 lbs and 5'7". The Burst was placing sciatica pain on the left side. I turned it off like you, until the Eterna a much smaller unit was placed in a few months later. The results are not what I believe should be, yet I am giving it 3 years, which will be 2026. Yes, an expensive unit and process, of which I am shaking my head. Are interviewing three neurosurgeons, and committing to one of them, the other two called and asked why I didn't choose them (!) It is a money-making thing, with the specialists eyeing the prize and the windfall. I do congratulate you on losing 55 pounds, Wow, that is neat! keep up he weight loss and use the gym to develop your core and strength, I believe that is important.

I had the Abbott Eterna implanted in February 2024 for pain from a spinal cord injury. At first, it didn't help as much as I had hoped but I think the trick is to have the settings and programs reset until it does help. If you can't get help from your Abbott rep, call your pain doctor and ask that they set up an appointment. I've had this done a couple times, and it really helps. If your settings are still low, you likely have quite a bit of room for Improvements.

I've had the Abbott burst SNS placed about 2 years ago. I always wondered if it was still doing it's job. I recently needed a cervical spine mri and needed to turn it off. For the 45 minutes it was turned off & laying on my back (cushion under knees) and I came out in excruciating pain!! Turned it back on and it didn't immediately take care of the pain but within a few hours & a dose of pain medicine I was back to normal. I'm now in process to have one inserted in my neck for pain there and no way to repair it without completely immobilizing my upper back & neck. Hope it does the trick!!

I had a vascular malformation in my thoracic spinal cord. I’ve also had multiple lumbar surgeries and cervical surgeries on discs. All of this required hardware.
I suffered chronic debilitating pain for years and was constantly encouraged by my doctors to try a medical stimulator by Abbott. Being hopeless and frustrated and distraught from dealing with chronic pain I finally succumbed and underwent the surgery.
Nope. I hate to say I’ve had no relief. It doesn’t help.
If I need any help or assistance or question, I have to reach out to my representative, which is next to impossible to reach. Then he acts very annoyed and basically just blows me off. I made it very clear that I have to have MRIs because I have a vascular malformation that could take my life if it ruptures. It requires follow up MRIs occasionally. Each time I try to have an MRI, the controller will not turn the stimulator off exactly the way it is supposed to do so therefore I am left with no MRI. I have just come back from an appointment for an MRI for a new pain probably from another back injury or just more Issues from some previous surgeries. I am in agony and I have missed a weeks worth of work. It is Christmas time. I know the MRI was not going to fix me, but at least it was one step closer to getting an answer and possibly some relief.
Again, we were unable to turn the device off using the controller so they would not proceed with the MRI

When I tried to call my representative, whose name and number are on my card, I reached some lady who has no idea what I’m talking about
Now this card is from Abbott.!!!!! It has my reps name on it and it has his phone number on it. It also includes the model number and other identifying numbers for the generator.
I’ve tried to call Abbott and they’re closed on the weekends.
I’ve tried to call my doctors and they’re closed on the weekend and I can’t get a hold of anybody

What if our in a life-threatening emergency and needed an MRI in order to proceed with something that would save my life?
I guess I would just be out of luck and out of life
I am so frustrated at this point that I am going to insist they remove this thing Monday.

It is a waste of money. It is a waste of time. It is a waste of horrific looking scars on your back. And I assure you, it leaves terrible looking scars where they implant the leads.
Out of 13 surgeries, I’ve had, all of my scars look pretty nice and clean.
The lumbar scar where they placed the leads into my back, looked like a chainsaw chain. The device itself has moved about 2 inches and is now at the top of my buttock where it started out in my flank area.
After a year and a half I was told that my leads had moved. That’s not good.

To be honest with you, I cannot tell you one thing positive about this device.
Except that my surgeon was very nice. But Abbott can’t take any credit for that because he’s a local surgeon who does lots of different kinds of surgeries.

I am so disappointed, frustrated, and downright angry that I cannot contact any representative, and I am having a serious issue and I need it addressed right now. But, there is no one to contact.!!

My advice is, don’t do it

I know 10 people who have done this, and they all say the same thing I say.
Please do not go by the reviews, most of those are generated by AI or bots.

Because I have a spinal cord arterial venous malformation, this could literally take my life.

If it were rupture, I would have to have an MRI in order to determine that that’s what was happening
I can’t have an MRI because I can’t turn the device off. My controller will not turn it off. And I cannot get a hold of anybody or any representatives.!!!
This is frightening.
And as I said before, it has never helped. I’ve never had any relief whatsoever from it. None.
I’ve had the device in for almost 3 years.
The technicians at the MRI center just told me they have never had a patient that had anything positive to say about this stimulator.
There you go