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

@fireguy - I have seen a wide range of SCS post-op recovery plans published on the web, but your doctor and device rep will provide you with specific information. However, this will include some time away from the golf course. There may also be some long-term restrictions. My first SCS was for cervical pain and excluded scuba diving, roller coasters, and... golf. My second SCS was for lumbar pain, and the device rep told me she had many patients who continued to golf after recovery.

I received the 7 day trial from Abbott and I can tell you first had that it absolutely worked for me. I have a trashed back with several bulged disks, fractures, and have had 1 herniated disk and a decompression surgery on L3,4,5 that failed. My leg, hip, and lower back has been horrendous. During the trial the pain was gone in my leg and hip. One spot in my back gave me some pain but tolerable . I am set to have it implanted because after the removal the pain has returned. I absolutely recommend the Abbott implant nerve stimulator.

I just had an Abbott Proclaim Plus implanted for lumbar pain. I have FBSS after 3 lumbar surgeries. The trial seemed to help, but so far, the permanent isn't. Best of luck on your pain journey.

@fireguy please give it that week trial before having it implanted inside. You have nothing to lose. It does work for some people. Unfortunately, I wasn’t one of them.

@phxratt1 Question for anyone that was helped during the trial but not after the permanent one was implanted.

Do you know if they used the same model in the trial & permanent placement?

@smithki 3 lower lumbar back surgeries with rods & pins being the last one on 5/27/25. The pain that I went to the ortho about originally was for an excruciating "cold" pain & numbness in my right outer thigh, from my hip to my knee that had been going on & intensifying for approximately 2 years. The ortho was convinced that the nerve was compressed & PLIF surgery would fix it. Now a year later & absolutely no relief in my hip, but added numbness in the pad of my foot, my ortho surgeon has said there is nothing else he can do & was sent to a Pain Specialist. I feel like I am being "pushed" to do a trial with an Abbott SCS.

I have asked my ortho surgeon on numerous occasions to do a mri to see what is wrong. They do an x-ray of my spine every time I go that shows the surgery hardware is doing exactly what it was intended to do. BUT!!! It has YET to fix my pain!

I went to the pain specialist yesterday, & he just kept saying that this is what will help. That he has talked with my surgeon & this is what he is recommending. . . I "argued" with the specialist for probably 30 minutes (lol!), but I want to KNOW how this is going to help the pain that no one seems to care about! He DID say that he would order an mri if I just REALLY wanted one, but he was confident that it wouldn't show anything. (and I began to worry that if I insisted on an mri that they would word it so that my insurance wouldn't pay for it!) Plus they say that regardless of what is causing my pain, the SCS will help. So, I finally agreed that I would at least do the psych evaluation & talk to the Abbott rep.

I got home & started researching the Abbott device & found that there are several lawsuits against these companies INCLUDING Abbott models Proclaim & Eterna, alleging that the company "failed to warn patients about device malfunctions that cause severe electric shocks, burns, nerve damage, and lead migration that forced victims to undergo painful revision or removal surgeries." (Drugwatch.com) THEN goes on to cite "High-profile cases - such as Furia v. Abbott Laboratories and Tuttle v. Abbott - allege that defective Eterna and Proclaim models caused severe complications like bladder incontinence, paralysis, and excruciating pain."

So I asked the rep about lawsuits, & at first she said that it was ONLY OTHER companies, not Abbott. So, I sent her a link to the article. . . HOURS later (& she had been responding within a couple of minutes!) she replies with "With anything in healthcare, I'm not surprised to see individual lawsuits, but there have been no class action lawsuits brought to my attention regarding these generators."

So, I'm even MORE skeptical!!! Any help would be appreciated!

@phxratt1 Question for anyone that was helped during the trial but not after the permanent one was implanted.

Do you know if they used the same model in the trial & permanent placement?

@stevenla313

They should use the exact same one, no?

@stevenla313 wow, that is a great question. I assumed the permanent one was the same one used in the trial, but I'm not 100% sure. I will have to check with my Abbott rep.

@smithki 3 lower lumbar back surgeries with rods & pins being the last one on 5/27/25. The pain that I went to the ortho about originally was for an excruciating "cold" pain & numbness in my right outer thigh, from my hip to my knee that had been going on & intensifying for approximately 2 years. The ortho was convinced that the nerve was compressed & PLIF surgery would fix it. Now a year later & absolutely no relief in my hip, but added numbness in the pad of my foot, my ortho surgeon has said there is nothing else he can do & was sent to a Pain Specialist. I feel like I am being "pushed" to do a trial with an Abbott SCS.

I have asked my ortho surgeon on numerous occasions to do a mri to see what is wrong. They do an x-ray of my spine every time I go that shows the surgery hardware is doing exactly what it was intended to do. BUT!!! It has YET to fix my pain!

I went to the pain specialist yesterday, & he just kept saying that this is what will help. That he has talked with my surgeon & this is what he is recommending. . . I "argued" with the specialist for probably 30 minutes (lol!), but I want to KNOW how this is going to help the pain that no one seems to care about! He DID say that he would order an mri if I just REALLY wanted one, but he was confident that it wouldn't show anything. (and I began to worry that if I insisted on an mri that they would word it so that my insurance wouldn't pay for it!) Plus they say that regardless of what is causing my pain, the SCS will help. So, I finally agreed that I would at least do the psych evaluation & talk to the Abbott rep.

I got home & started researching the Abbott device & found that there are several lawsuits against these companies INCLUDING Abbott models Proclaim & Eterna, alleging that the company "failed to warn patients about device malfunctions that cause severe electric shocks, burns, nerve damage, and lead migration that forced victims to undergo painful revision or removal surgeries." (Drugwatch.com) THEN goes on to cite "High-profile cases - such as Furia v. Abbott Laboratories and Tuttle v. Abbott - allege that defective Eterna and Proclaim models caused severe complications like bladder incontinence, paralysis, and excruciating pain."

So I asked the rep about lawsuits, & at first she said that it was ONLY OTHER companies, not Abbott. So, I sent her a link to the article. . . HOURS later (& she had been responding within a couple of minutes!) she replies with "With anything in healthcare, I'm not surprised to see individual lawsuits, but there have been no class action lawsuits brought to my attention regarding these generators."

So, I'm even MORE skeptical!!! Any help would be appreciated!