Trial reportNeuromodulation : journal of the International Neuromodulation Society2021
To Trial or Not to Trial Before Spinal Cord Stimulation for Chronic Neuropathic Pain: The Patients' View From the TRIAL-STIM Randomized Controlled Trial.
Trial report in Neuromodulation : journal of the International Neuromodulation Society, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 34 citations in OpenAlex.
- From Trial to Chronic Epidural Electrical Stimulation: A Single-Patient Feasibility Study in Motor-Complete Spinal Cord Injury.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Towards Selective Trial Stimulation in Spinal Cord Stimulation: Clinical and Psychological Evidence for an Individualised Implantation Strategy.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- From Pain Relief to Multidimensional Outcomes: A Structured Narrative Review of Success Language in a PubMed/MEDLINE Spinal Cord Stimulation Corpus.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Objective, Same-Day SCS Trials with ECAP-Controlled Closed-Loop Therapy: Depth of Response is Maintained from Trial to 12 months.Pain and therapy · 2026Article
- Spinal Cord Stimulation in Painful Diabetic Neuropathy: Advances, Outcomes, and Future Directions.Biomedicines · 2025Review
- Spinal cord stimulation protocols for modern pain management: from two-stage models to direct-to-implant strategies.Pain management · 2025Review
- Spinal Cord Stimulation for Spinal Cord Injury-Related Pain: A Pilot Study.Brain sciences · 2024Article
- Spinal Cord Stimulation for Intractable Chronic Limb Ischemia: A Narrative Review.Journal of cardiovascular development and disease · 2024Review
- Article
- Optimizing Healthcare Expenditure for Spinal Cord Stimulation in Italy: The Value of Battery Longevity Improvement and a Direct-to-Implant Approach.Journal of health economics and outcomes research · 2024Article
- Real World Characterization of Chronic Pain, Success Rates and Implant Rates: Evidence from a Digital Health Platform of Patients Undergoing Spinal Cord Stimulation Evaluations.The journal of pain · 2023Article
- A novel workflow with mid-trial X-rays for spinal cord stimulator trials.Interventional pain medicine · 2023Article
- International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery Statement: Restorative Neurostimulation for Chronic Mechanical Low Back Pain Resulting From Neuromuscular Instability.International journal of spine surgery · 2023Article
- Trial or not trial in the practice of spinal cord stimulation. That's the question.Interventional pain medicine · 2023Article
- Real-world outcomes of single-stage spinal cord stimulation in chronic pain patients: A multicentre, European case series.Interventional pain medicine · 2023Article
- Review
- Evidence-based consensus guidelines on patient selection and trial stimulation for spinal cord stimulation therapy for chronic non-cancer pain.Regional anesthesia and pain medicine · 2023Review
- User Engagement and Assessment of Treatment Effectiveness in Patients Using a Novel Digital mHealth App During Spinal Cord Stimulation Screening Trials.JMIR human factors · 2022Article
- Screening trials of spinal cord stimulation for neuropathic pain in England-A budget impact analysis.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Patient Selection for Spinal Cord Stimulation in Treatment of Pain: Sequential Decision-Making Model - A Narrative Review.Journal of pain research · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
18 authors at 9 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objectives Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is an established treatment of chronic neuropathic pain. Although a temporary SCS screening trial is widely used to determine suitability for a permanent implant, its evidence base is limited. The recent TRIAL-STIM study (a randomized controlled trial at three centers in the United Kingdom) found no evidence that an SCS screening trial strategy provides superior patient outcomes as compared with a no trial approach. As part of the TRIAL-STIM study, we undertook a nested qualitative study to ascertain patients' preferences in relation to undergoing a screening trial or not. Materials and Methods We interviewed 31 patients sampled from all three centers and both study arms (screening trial/no trial) prior to SCS implantation, and 23 of these patients again following implantation (eight patients were lost to follow-up). Interviews were undertaken by telephone and audio-recorded, then transcripts were subject to thematic analysis. In addition, participants were asked to state their overall preference for a one-stage (no screening trial) versus two-stage (screening trial) implant procedure on a five-point Likert scale, before and after implantation. Results Emergent themes favoured the option for a one-stage SCS procedure. Themes identified include: saving time (off work, in hospital, attending appointments), avoiding the worry about having "loose wires" in the two-stage procedure, having only one period of recovery, and saving NHS resources. Participants' rated preferences show similar support for a one-stage procedure without a screening trial. Conclusions Our findings indicate an overwhelming preference among participants for a one-stage SCS procedure both before and after the implant, regardless of which procedure they had undergone. The qualitative study findings further support the TRIAL-STIM RCT results.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.