Pain and quality of life in patients with critical limb ischaemia: results of a randomized controlled multicentre study on the effect of spinal cord stimulation

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Abstract
We carried out an assessment of pain and quality of life of patients with critical limb ischaemia during the follow‐up of a multicentre randomized trial in more detail than previously reported. In a multicentre clinical trial 120 patients were randomized between medical treatment and medical treatment plus spinal cord stimulation. Patients were selected on the basis of clinical symptoms and macrocirculatory data as described in the European consensus document on critical limb ischaemia. Data were collected at intake and then 1, 3, 6, 12 and 18 months later. Primary outcome measures were limb salvage, pain relief and quality of life. Patient and limb survival was estimated with the Kaplan–Meier method. Pain was evaluated using the visual analogue scale (VAS), the McGill pain questionnaire, the pain score of the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) and the use of analgesics. Quality of life was evaluated using the NHP, the EuroQol and mobility subscore of the Sickness Impact Profile. The 2‐year limb survival was 52% for SCS treatment and 46% for standard treatment (p =0.47). Pain relief was considerable in both treatment strategies (pppppp<0.05). In contrast to the existing literature, the randomized trial revealed no major difference in overall pain and quality of life assessment between treatment groups. The effect on energy and mobility was significantly better in patients treated with SCS, who also used substantially fewer analgesics.