The Impact of Spinal Cord Stimulation on Patients' Ability to Work and Work-Related Outcomes.

Abstract

Introduction: Chronic low back pain is one of the most common causes of absence from work. This not only has economic consequences but also affects the mental health of patients. Furthermore, returning to work is one of the main concerns of patients with chronic pain. Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) has shown its effectiveness in pain reduction and quality of life in many studies. Work-related outcomes have often been neglected or only marginally documented.

Objective: The aim of this study is to examine specific work-related data of the patients before and after surgery and to assess the influence of SCS on the ability to work with a review of the literature.

Materials and methods: This is a single-center retrospective study with prospective data collection. All patients were operated on by the same surgeon at the University Hospital Bern between October 2018 and October 2022. Data were collected during postoperative follow-up and by telephone call. In addition, a literature search was conducted to identify previous research on this topic.

Results: Of the 26 patients included in this study, 18 were on disability leave before SCS whereas eight were still working. After SCS, five of the 18 patients on disability leave were able to return to work within a mean period of 58.3 weeks with a standard deviation of 33.59 after surgery, with a workload of ≥20%. Two of these patients transitioned to a new profession. This corresponds to a return-to-work (RTW) rate of 27.8% for patients previously unemployed in our study. Among the eight patients who were employed before SCS, all were able to resume work. Those who had been working full-time (n = 4) maintained their full workload, whereas the four patients who had previously reduced their workload were able to sustain or even slightly increase their employment percentage.

Conclusion: Our study shows a positive impact of SCS on the patients' work ability with an RTW rate of 27.8%. The findings not only indicate a favorable influence on patients' health and well-being but also create positive economic implications.