Page 27 - Indulge May 2017

St. Luke’s is one of the first hospitals in to adjust the strength of current, or even
the country, and the only one in the Lehigh
Valley, performing Dorsal Root Ganglion
stimulation, a specific spinal cord stimulation
approved by the FDA in April 2016.
Functional neurosurgeon Steven Falowski,
MD and pain specialists Scott Loev, DO;
Farooq A. Qureshi, MD; and Jason M.
Erickson, DO, MSPT, of St. Luke’s Spine &
Pain Associates were among the first doctors
in the United States to receive special
training in Dorsal Root Ganglion stimulation.
Loev serves as the medical director of St.
Luke’s Pain Medicine Program.
Performed in an outpatient setting,
DRG stimulation targets the exact bundle
of sensory nerve cell bodies to relieve pain
where it occurs. “It’s a pretty ground-
breaking procedure with a limited launch,”
Falowski says. “It shows St. Luke’s to be
on the cutting edge by having access to it
before other institutions in the country.”
CRPS, a chronic pain syndrome
brought on by injury or trauma, affects the
way the central nervous and peripheral
nervous systems receive pain signals
from the brain. Pain-level registers out of
proportion compared to the initial trauma.
Traditional spinal cord stimulation hasn’t
been very effective in pain management
for CRPS patients, who often end up
using high doses of opioid or narcotic
medications to treat the pain.
Loev, Qureshi and Erickson perform
a trial procedure to see if the procedure
provides relief. They use a catheter to place
the electric leads into the epidural space
and place the lead along the proper DRG. If
the procedure relieves the pain symptoms,
patients schedule with Falowski for the
permanent implant.
Falowski implants a small non-
rechargeable generator that provides the
electrical stimulation. The patient receives
a handheld remote control that allows them
From left to right, neurosurgeon Steven Falowski, MD and pain specialists Jason M. Erickson,
DO, MSPT, Scott Loev, DO and Farooq A. Qureshi, MD of St. Luke’s Spine & Pain Associates
Photos courtesy of St. Luke’s University Health Network
power it off.
“DRG literally localizes pain relief for
one body part,” Loev says. “For people
who have significant pain in just the right
foot, we can guide the catheter along
that nerve root until it’s over that nerve
bundle to stop the pain from recurring.”
Peter underwent the two-step
outpatient procedure last June.
“I can finally see a light at the end of
the tunnel,” Peter says of her pain relief,
noting that she has reduced the use of pain
medication by more than one half. “Before
DRG, it was all black. As good as it’s gotten,
I think it’s going to get to where it needs for
me to get my life back. I worked too hard for
that nursing career to give it up.”
Qureshi performed the procedure
on a CPRS patient who was injured
while serving in Vietnam. He underwent
multiple surgeries with limited pain relief
until receiving the DRG stimulation.
“When I went into the recovery room
of the patients I trialed and turned the
[transmitter] on, they were so happy they
had such relief,” he says. “I have never
seen that kind of effect with traditional
spinal cord stimulation.”
Erickson is equally enthused about
the procedure.
“It’s amazing to see the patient living
with this pain, and right after, I’ve seen
them cry because it’s unbelievable that
they finally have relief after having this
pain for so long,” he says.
DRG results have been amazing,
Falowski said after performing more than
40 of the procedures.
“The success rates we’re having are
near 80 percent complete pain relief. In
this day and age where opioid addiction
is in the spotlight, this procedure can
keep people off opioids and narcotics,”
Falowski said.
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