(ANSA) – BOLOGNA, FEBRUARY 17 – She had been suffering from severe back pain since 2010, which had compromised her quality of life; now, thanks to an innovative treatment carried out by the professionals of the Pain Therapy Center of the Bellaria Hospital in Bologna, that lumbar pain has disappeared and given way to her smile. This is the experience of Rina Ronchi, 77 years old, residing in the Bologna area, the first patient in Emilia-Romagna, to whom a bone marrow stimulator was implanted which, in addition to acting on nerve cells, targets glial cells, considered fundamental in chronicity of pain.
The elderly woman underwent a first minimally invasive operation under local anesthesia on 30 January and will soon undergo the definitive one. “In the first, an electric catheter, slightly thicker than a hair, is placed outside the dorsal spinal cord – explains Dr. Emanuele Piraccini who coordinates the Pain Therapy team -: electric tests are carried out to assess whether the territory covered by the stimulus is the same where the patient is in pain. The catheter emerges from the skin and is connected to an external electrical generator”. Then, after a month, we proceed with the second surgery, during which “a pulse generator is placed under the skin – continues Piraccini – connected to an electric generator above the buttock or in the lower abdomen”.
The therapeutic effect is obtained with the continuous delivery of electrical stimuli, not perceived by the patients. “I’m much better, I don’t feel the pain in my back anymore – explains Rina – I’m very happy”. At Bellaria, three operations of this type have been performed and it is estimated that there may be 40-50 eligible patients each year: people in whom the pain persists after spinal surgery, who suffer from lumbosciatica, with vascular pathologies, diabetic neuropathy, et cetera. In the pain therapy network of the Local Health Authority of Bologna, “the activity has doubled since 2019 – concludes the general manager Paolo Bordon – this is also a struggle of civility, of improving the care of our patients on a theme, that of pain, which despite a national law is still too underestimated”. (HANDLE).
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