Treatment of Upper Limb Chronic Neuropathic Pain by Electrical Stimulation of the Brachial Plexus Nerve Roots

This study tests electrical stimulation of the brachial plexus nerve roots — a surgical implant procedure — for adults with severe, treatment-resistant chronic neuropathic pain in one arm. Neuropathic pain in the arm can result from surgery, trauma, nerve injuries, or complex regional pain syndrome, and when conventional medications and therapies fail, patients are left with few options. By delivering small electrical pulses directly to the nerve roots at the spinal level, neuromodulation aims to interfere with pain signaling at its source. Eligible participants are adults between 18 and 80 with severe (pain score above 5 out of 10), chronic (more than 12 months), neuropathic arm pain that has not responded to multiple established treatments including antidepressants, gabapentin, pregabalin, and topical agents. Patients with brachial plexus avulsion, phantom limb pain, cardiac pacemakers, unstable psychiatric disorders, or who are pregnant are excluded. Participants undergo surgical implantation of the stimulator and are followed for pain relief, quality of life, and safety. For patients with refractory neuropathic arm pain, life can be utterly dominated by pain. This study offers hope for a population that has exhausted conventional options, and could establish brachial plexus stimulation as a viable, minimally invasive neurosurgical alternative that gives people their lives back.