Chronic pain management implant in Saskatoon man a first for Canada

Watch above: Dr. Ivar Mendez discusses a new device to treat chronic pain.

SASKATOON – A new technology to manage chronic pain was recently implanted in a man in Saskatoon – a first for Canada. The result was surprising.

“When we turned the stimulation on for him, his eyes lit up and he said “pains gone’,” said Dr. Ivar Mendez, head of surgery at the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Medicine.

“It was such an amazing response.”

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The device was the Prodigy Chronic Pain System with Burst Technology, produced by St Jude Medical in Minneapolis. It’s an implantable spinal cord stimulation system, and was recently approved by Health Canada.

Dr. Mendez said the patient was a 52-year-old man who had injured his back.

“He had surgery for his back in the past, but unfortunately the surgery failed to improve his pain. He was left with chronic pain, pain that he felt waking up in the morning, wasn’t able to work, wasn’t able to do the regular things we take for granted,” said Mendez.

READ MORE: Calgary study delivers new hope to those with chronic pain

He explained one of the big differences with the new technology is how it masks pain.

Traditional stimulators deliver electrical pulses to nerve endings, which mask or interrupt pain signals as they travel to the brain. However, they use equally spaced pulses – which can cause a sensation of vibration.

“What’s happened in the past is once you blocked those pain signals, you had a vibration sensation … and that although it took away your pain, it was annoying for people,” said Mendez.

The new technology, he said, uses bursts of stimulation that mimic the body’s natural design of neuron signaling.

“Their pain disappears,” said Mendez.

“They’re free of pain, and they forget about the system that is implanted in their bodies.”

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Mendez says he is excited about the possibilities, because chronic pain is a big problem that affects an estimated one in five Canadians – more than heart disease and cancer combined.

“These people with chronic pain usually quit their jobs, they cannot work, there’s a loss of productivity, it’s a huge burden to society,” he said.

“If you can control pain, it’s going to have a tremendous impact into the future.”