SPRINT PNS; Leg Pain
The year 2020 was a tough one for many people, and it was especially hard on Lindsay. She contracted COVID just as awareness was building about the virus, was hospitalized in late March, and put on a ventilator the next day.
She spent the following 19 days on that ventilator, and once she was taken off, she noticed that the outsides of her thighs felt numb. She thought it was because of all of the medications she was on and assumed the feeling would return over time.
It didn’t.
“I went home feeling numb and probably a month later, I started to have pain,” explains Lindsay, who works as a nurse. She saw an orthopedist who tried to numb the area, but it didn’t relieve the pain, which by then had become constant.
It hurt the most when Lindsay would put weight on her foot, which made walking very difficult. Because her job was very physical, she had to continue her medical leave from work, which had begun when she was hospitalized. Her time on the ventilator left her weak, and she was prescribed physical therapy to build her strength. Part of that therapy involved walking, but it was too painful for Lindsay to do.
The pain also made it difficult for Lindsay to fall asleep. “At night, I used to get what I called ‘zingers,’ because it literally felt like a nerve was being tazed. This would happen 10 or 15 times a night in each leg.”
And unfortunately, it also affected her relationship with her boyfriend (now husband), Jake. “If he was sitting right next to me and I could feel his legs touching mine, it hurt. He learned very quickly not to touch my legs. Intimacy was difficult.”
Finally, a diagnosis
Lindsay went to see a specialist, where she was diagnosed with meralgia paresthetica, a condition in which a nerve is compressed along the outer thigh, causing pain and numbness. She says she was told it was uncommon to have the condition on both sides of the body at once. All Lindsay knows is that she “was tired of the constant pain.”
In desperation, she did a Google search to find someone who could help her find pain relief. “That’s when I first met with Dr. (Chris) Gilmore of the Carolinas Pain Institute. In that first meeting, he talked about the SPRINT® PNS system.” Lindsay was aware of this type of device because of her medical background but wanted to try something else first.
“I was also in conversation with another pain institution at the time because I heard they had a surgery that could fix my issue,” she explains. “It turns out, all they really did was perform an MRI-guided nerve block to see if that would help — and it didn’t do a thing.”
Trying SPRINT
Lindsay decided to return to Dr. Gilmore, a consultant of SPR, but she was skeptical SPRINT PNS would make a difference in her pain. “I was worried whether it would truly work for me because after going to the other clinic and them numbing the supposed nerve that was causing all the problems, I still had pain,” recalls Lindsay.
“However, I was also so tired of being in pain. I’d tried nerve medications like Lyrica, amitriptyline, and gabapentin, and they just weren’t working. That’s when I decided to try SPRINT. I figured if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. I didn’t have anything to lose.”
“I’ve been using SPRINT PNS on patients suffering a variety of chronic pain for nearly 10 years, including for meralgia paresthetica, and have seen good outcomes with this treatment. I was pretty confident SPRINT could help Lindsay with her pain,” says Dr. Gilmore.
Dr. Gilmore used ultrasound to identify the specific nerves that were causing Lindsay’s pain and she says once the SPRINT leads were implanted, she felt a difference instantly.
“Within that first week, I started to feel less of those zingers,” she says. Today, she still has some mild numbness in her legs but is grateful that the intense pain has subsided. “I’ve just accepted I’m probably going to be somewhat numb there for the rest of my life, but it is so much better than living in chronic pain.”
Since her SPRINT treatment, Lindsay married Jake and had a son named Cooper. “I can’t imagine how it would have been having my son without the SPRINT treatment. He likes to jump and bounce on my legs, and it doesn’t bother me at all,” she says with a big smile.
The SPRINT PNS System is indicated for up to 60 days for: (i) Symptomatic relief of chronic, intractable pain, post-surgical and post-traumatic acute pain; (ii) Symptomatic relief of post-traumatic pain; and (iii) Symptomatic relief of post-operative pain. The SPRINT PNS System is not intended to be placed in the region innervated by the cranial and facial nerves.
Each patient’s testimonial is the result of each patient’s unique situation resulting in varying responses, experiences, risks, and outcomes to the SPRINT PNS System. The patient experiences shared on this page are not medical advice and should not be substituted for the independent medical judgment of a trained healthcare professional. Discuss your options and use of the SPRINT PNS System with your medical provider. Physicians should use their best judgment when deciding when to use the SPRINT PNS System. For more information see the SPRINT PNS System IFU.
Most common side effects are skin irritation and erythema. Results may vary. Rx only.
