Predictors of Trial Success with Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS) from National Claims Database

• Activity Number: 611
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Wednesday, August 12, 2015 : 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Medical Devices and Diagnostics
• Author(s): Dat Huynh* and Sherry Lin and Nitzan Mekel-Bobrov
• Companies: Boston Scientific and Boston Scientific and Boston Scientific
• Keywords: SCS ; logistic ; trial success ; trial-to-permanent ; spinal cord stimulation

Abstract

Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is a widely used technique to treat patients whose pain is refractory to prior interventions. Implantation of a SCS device is preceded by a trial procedure to determine whether the patient will respond to treatment. This trial procedure can be invasive and improved patient selection for a trial would reduce the amount of unnecessary procedures and payer costs. We used a large scale national insurance claims database to examine predictive factors for trial success and to estimate trial success rates using a hierarchical logistic mixed model including demographic diagnostic factors, geographic and temporal effects. Patients who underwent a SCS trial between the years of January 2007 to December 2013 were included in the study. These findings build on previous studies examining trial-to-permanent implant success rates and may provide guidance for future patient selection.