DRG: Life-Changing Technology for Chronic Pain
It’s as close to a medical miracle that I’ve seen in my 30 years of doing pain management. It’s exciting technology designed by Abbott that’s empowering people to just go out and live their lives. DRG Therapy provides relief from difficult to treat chronic pain of the lower limbs in patients with complex regional pain syndrome. It’s a huge deal. One in five people in the world suffer from chronic pain. My life is just nothing like it was before I had my first knee surgery. CRPS is an ongoing pain when you wake up in the morning it’s there, when you go to sleep at night it’s there. People who are suffering, they’ve lost their quality of life.
They can’t work, they’re not mobile. We don’t really understand why it occurs and it can be quite debilitating. Because you are in so much pain, it’s a very isolated life. This is the actual implant design that we start with. It represents the circuitry that we eventually miniaturized down to this small board. Proclaim DRG stimulates the Dorsal Root Ganglion, a bundle of nerves that joins the spinal cord. We’re able to target lower limb pain, very effectively. This technology is really revolutionary in that as compared to previous technologies, it can stimulate exactly the areas you want to bring relief. What does this mean for you? Freedom. Really, freedom from the opioids, freedom to get a social life. We are the first implant to use blue tooth which allowed us to have people use the device they're really familiar with, and communicate directly with their implant. So, this green button that says, “therapy is on” means it’s on and working. Okay. When I came in this morning, I was in discomfort.
Difficulty walking, but I feel a sense of calm right now with this leg. It’s like a miracle when you’ve been suffering with this. Mentally and physically I’m feeling better. The reaction that I’ve seen is overwhelming. People are often crying right in the recovery room. I felt how I used to feel. This is a gift to reclaim my life. I love solving puzzles, at home but it just requires time. You look for the piece that fits. At work, we are looking for the perfect fit, but the impact to people’s lives is huge.
