Puranik Performs Procedures

July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.

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There's new hope for patients in Warsaw living with low back pain. It's called spinal cord stimulator implantation, and it's being performed locally by Chetan Puranik, M.D., a board-certified anesthesiologist specializing in pain management. He recently joined Orthopaedics Northeast's Warsaw office to provide the Spinal Cord Stimulator implantation, as well as to perform other pain management techniques to help patients live more active, less painful lives.

"I am proud to provide services within the community so patients do not have to drive long distances to receive care," he said.

Spinal cord stimulation has been identified as an effective treatment option for many chronic pain sufferers. As many as 50,000 neurostimulators are implanted worldwide, and the treatment is covered by many major health insurance plans, Medicare and worker's compensation programs.

The SCS system looks and works like a pacemaker, and is sometimes called "a pacemaker for pain." It generates mild electrical pulses and sends them to the spinal cord. "These electrical pulses replace the feeling of pain with a more pleasant tingling or massaging sensation," said Puranik. "Spinal cord stimulation surgery is generally performed in two separate steps - a trial procedure and a permanent implant."

The stimulation trial usually requires a short office-based procedure, performed on an outpatient basis. During the procedure, one or more leads are placed in the space along the spinal cord. When the leads are positioned in the best location, they are connected to a portable, external generator. Once connected, the system generates mild electrical pulses that are programmed to replace the patient's areas of pain with a tingling sensation known as paresthesia.

If the spinal cord stimulation trial provides the desired pain relief, the patient usually decides to have the permanent system placed. Although an SCS system is called permanent, spinal cord stimulation is a reversible therapy.

Similar to the trial, the permanent implantation requires a relatively short hospital-based outpatient procedure. The generator is placed in the body via two very small incisions and leads are then placed along the spinal cord and attached to a generator. Patients usually feel immediate pain relief with no restrictions after the recovery period. The patient can engage in all normal day to day activities, including golf, swimming and exercise.

"My goal is to minimize or eliminate the need for long-term medication use, and to help patients resume a healthy, productive, and enjoyable life," stated Dr. Puranik. "Spinal cord stimulation is one way to do this."

To learn more about SCS or any of the other procedures Puranik performs for pain management, contact Lisa Nussa at 260-433-1409 or at [email protected][[In-content Ad]]

There's new hope for patients in Warsaw living with low back pain. It's called spinal cord stimulator implantation, and it's being performed locally by Chetan Puranik, M.D., a board-certified anesthesiologist specializing in pain management. He recently joined Orthopaedics Northeast's Warsaw office to provide the Spinal Cord Stimulator implantation, as well as to perform other pain management techniques to help patients live more active, less painful lives.

"I am proud to provide services within the community so patients do not have to drive long distances to receive care," he said.

Spinal cord stimulation has been identified as an effective treatment option for many chronic pain sufferers. As many as 50,000 neurostimulators are implanted worldwide, and the treatment is covered by many major health insurance plans, Medicare and worker's compensation programs.

The SCS system looks and works like a pacemaker, and is sometimes called "a pacemaker for pain." It generates mild electrical pulses and sends them to the spinal cord. "These electrical pulses replace the feeling of pain with a more pleasant tingling or massaging sensation," said Puranik. "Spinal cord stimulation surgery is generally performed in two separate steps - a trial procedure and a permanent implant."

The stimulation trial usually requires a short office-based procedure, performed on an outpatient basis. During the procedure, one or more leads are placed in the space along the spinal cord. When the leads are positioned in the best location, they are connected to a portable, external generator. Once connected, the system generates mild electrical pulses that are programmed to replace the patient's areas of pain with a tingling sensation known as paresthesia.

If the spinal cord stimulation trial provides the desired pain relief, the patient usually decides to have the permanent system placed. Although an SCS system is called permanent, spinal cord stimulation is a reversible therapy.

Similar to the trial, the permanent implantation requires a relatively short hospital-based outpatient procedure. The generator is placed in the body via two very small incisions and leads are then placed along the spinal cord and attached to a generator. Patients usually feel immediate pain relief with no restrictions after the recovery period. The patient can engage in all normal day to day activities, including golf, swimming and exercise.

"My goal is to minimize or eliminate the need for long-term medication use, and to help patients resume a healthy, productive, and enjoyable life," stated Dr. Puranik. "Spinal cord stimulation is one way to do this."

To learn more about SCS or any of the other procedures Puranik performs for pain management, contact Lisa Nussa at 260-433-1409 or at [email protected][[In-content Ad]]
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