Eligibility

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and up

Genders Eligible for Study

Both

Keywords

Sponsors

Other

Massachusetts General Hospital

Inclusion Criteria

- Subject is 18 years or older.

- Subject has an SCS device implanted for at least one month for pain control. This
requirement is set to ensure that the subject becomes familiarized with the therapy
and has recovered from the surgical implantation of the SCS device.

Exclusion Criteria

- Subject has neurological disease or a condition causing sensory deficit to the
painful area.

- Subject had recent therapy that may influence QST results, e.g., neuroablative
procedure within two-months.

- Subjects who are unable to travel to the study center.

Detailed Description

The purpose of this study is to better understand how the Spinal Cord Stimulator works in relieving chronic pain. The investigators are asking subject to take part in this study because who are chronic pain patients who already have a Spinal Cord Stimulator (SCS) in place. The investigators hypothesize that chronic pain patients will have higher heat pain threshold, heat pain tolerance and wind-up over the painful areas with the SCS on. QST (Quantitative Sensory Testing, a heat/cold simulation test) might be an objective helpful tool for prudent patient selection for an expensive and invasive procedure for future SCS placement.