FDA recently approved a new peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) system, which is designed to provide acute and chronic pain relief, including postoperative and post-traumatic pain. This system can provide relief to peripheral nerves with an implantable device that can be optionally placed through a needle-sized cannula to next to peripheral nerve locations where the pain is originating. The neurostimulator itself is about the size of a bandage, and it sends electrical signals toward a target nerve that can be as distant as three centimeters away from the lead tip.

“This system brings the benefits of PNS to physicians seeking safe and effective alternatives to opioids in the treatment of chronic and acute pain,” said Peter Staats, an immediate past president of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians. “Unlike all other PNS systems, It does not require permanent implantation, which should reduce invasiveness, risk and cost.”

It is minimally invasive and completely reversible. Physicians may use it earlier in a patient's treatment process in an effort to reduce or eliminate the need for opiates and to avoid costly alternatives in managing acute and chronic pain. It is an important step in providing a drug-free therapy and this wireless product is much needed in the armamentarium for effective pain control.