Spinal cord stimulation for patients with inoperable chronic critical leg ischemia.

BACKGROUND Because of the prevalence of diabetes, the treatment of diabetic foot is still challenging. Even an exactly proved effective and practical method can't be listed except vascular surgery which is not a long-term way for it. Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is a very promising option in the treatment algorithm of inoperable chronic critical leg ischemia (CLI). DATA SOURCES We searched Pubmed database with key words or terms such as "spinal cord stimulation", "ischemic pain" and "limb ischemia" appeared in the last five years. RESULTS The mechanism of SCS is unclear. Two theories have emerged to interpret the benefits of SCS. Pain relief from SCS can be confirmed by a majority of the studies, while limb salvage and other more ambitious improvements have not come to an agreement. The complications of SCS are not fatal, but most of them are lead migration, lead connection failure, and local infection. CONCLUSIONS SCS is a safe, promising treatment for patients with inoperable CLI. It is effective in pain reduction compared with traditional medical treatment.