Neurostimulation for Chronic Pain Management

Technician reviews polygraph readings on a tablet beside a seated subject — Photo: Andrey Burmakin / Shutterstock

A Chicago surgeon is helping children trapped in constant, burning pain get their lives back by rewiring how their nerves send signals to the brain.

Story Snapshot

Dr. Jeffrey Raskin, a pediatric neurosurgeon at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, uses spinal cord stimulation and other neuromodulation devices to treat kids with severe chronic pain.
A published case study shows Raskin’s team successfully treated a child with complex regional pain syndrome using an implanted spinal cord stimulator.
Doctors say early data looks promising, but the number of pediatric patients studied so far remains small.
Major health guidelines still list neuromodulation as a later option, after therapy and medication, not a first step.

A Direct Fix for Kids in Constant Pain

Raskin directs the Functional Neurosurgery Program at Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, where he treats children whose pain has outlasted every normal treatment. One patient, a young girl named Isabella, suffered chronic nerve pain traced to a spinal compression fracture. Raskin recommended a spinal cord stimulator, an implanted device that changes how pain signals travel to the brain, and her family says it brought real relief.

Isabella’s case is not an isolated story. A 2020 case report co-authored by Raskin’s colleagues documented a similar success. Doctors implanted a spinal cord stimulator in a child with complex regional pain syndrome, a condition that causes burning, disabling nerve pain often triggered by a minor injury. The device worked, and the authors said the case should push doctors to consider this option earlier in kids.

What Neuromodulation Actually Does

Neuromodulation covers a family of treatments that use mild electrical pulses to interrupt pain signals before they reach the brain. Spinal cord stimulation is the most established version. Peripheral nerve stimulation is a newer, less invasive cousin that can be managed in outpatient visits rather than requiring major surgery, making it easier to try on kids first.

These devices do not cure the underlying injury. They change how the nervous system reports pain, often letting kids sleep, walk, and return to school after months or years of being sidelined. For families who have run out of options after failed medications and therapy, that shift can feel like getting a child back.

The Evidence Behind the Promise

A systematic review of pediatric neuromodulation studies found nearly all patients with complex regional pain syndrome reported major pain relief and better daily function after treatment. That is a strong signal. But the review covered only 19 patients across 11 studies, a reminder that this field is still building its proof.

A separate 2025 review, co-authored by Raskin, looked at neurosurgical options for chronic and end-of-life pain in children. It concluded these procedures are safe, but said broad claims about how well they work cannot yet be firmly established because so few children have been studied. That is not a knock against the treatment. It is an honest accounting of where the science stands.

Where This Fits in Pediatric Pain Care

The World Health Organization’s guidelines on chronic pain in children focus on physical therapy, psychological support, and medication as the core tools for managing pain in patients up to age 19. Neuromodulation is not mentioned as a starting point. It sits further down the treatment ladder, reserved for children whose pain resists everything else.

That structure makes sense. Implanting a device in a growing child is not a decision to rush into. But for kids like Isabella, who had already exhausted standard care, doctors like Raskin argue the wait for more studies should not stand between a suffering child and a treatment that is already showing results.

The Road Ahead for a Small But Growing Field

Researchers point to real hurdles. Small sample sizes, a lack of randomized trials, and the tricky question of parental consent for an implanted device in a child’s growing body all complicate wider adoption. Raskin, who also serves as a director-at-large for the North American Neuromodulation Society, has spoken publicly about the challenge of building solid evidence while insurance companies and hospitals decide whether to expand access.

None of that changes what already happened for children like Isabella. Their pain went from unmanageable to livable. As more hospitals track outcomes and publish results, doctors expect the evidence gap to close, giving more families a documented reason to consider a treatment that, right now, still rests on early but encouraging results.