text_1: New Therapy Delivers Long-Term Relief for Chronic Back, Leg Pain, Study Finds
text_2: The release reports on a study that tested a new type of implanted device for the treatment of chronic back and leg pain. It uses high-frequency electrical pulses, delivered directly to the spinal cord via implanted leads. The study compared this high-frequency form of spinal cord stimulation (SCS) to a more traditional approach that uses lower-frequency pulses. The main advantage of the new approach, according to the release, is that patients don’t feel an annoying tingling or buzzing sensation that’s associated with the traditional approach. The release faithfully reports the outlines of the study in broad strokes and provides some of the outcomes in user-friendly terms. But there a lot of missing context that any reporter relying on the release should have been given. Notably, this was a company funded study run by investigators with close ties to the manufacturer of the device. The surgery required to implant the device can cause harms that weren’t mentioned. Finally, it’s not clear if this device is approved for use and if so, how much would it cost to have it implanted and would insurance cover that cost? Many people have chronic pain that isn’t satisfactorily addressed with existing approaches. If a new device can improve on those existing therapies as is claimed in this release, many people would be interested to know about it. But along with offering the good news about potential benefits, release writers have an obligation to provide context that cuts the other way — whether that’s possible harms from the device, conflicts of interest among the researchers, or limitations to the study design. They also owe it to readers to present a full array of potential alternatives. This release sets up what seems to be a false choice between SCS and either surgery or narcotics. Patient can also try yoga, exercise, NSAIDS, and behavioral modifications — treatments that can work and have little cost and risk.