Burst and Tonic Spinal Cord Stimulation in the Mechanical Conflict-Avoidance System: Cognitive-Motivational Aspects

Background: Clinical research suggests that a novel spinal cord stimulation (SCS) waveform, known as Burst-SCS, specifically targets cognitive-motivational aspects of pain. The objective of the present study was to assess the cognitive-motivational aspects of Tonic- and Burst SCS-induced pain relief, by means of exit latency in the mechanical conflict-avoidance system (MCAS), in a rat model of chronic neuropathic pain.

Methods: Exit latency on the MCAS operant testing setup was evaluated at various probe heights for rats (n = 26) with chronic neuropathic pain induced by a partial sciatic nerve ligation (PSNL). Von Frey paw withdrawal analysis was performed to assess mechanical hypersensitivity. In a second experiment (n = 12), the behavioral effect of Tonic SCS or biphasic Burst SCS on both Von Frey analysis and MCAS exit latency was assessed.

Results: Burst SCS exit latencies differed significantly from Tonic SCS exit latencies at 4 mm probe height (3.8 vs. 5.8 sec, respectively; p < 0.01) and 5 mm probe height (3.2 vs. 5.4 sec respectively; p < 0.05). This difference was not detected with reflex-based Von Frey testing (Tonic-SCS vs. Burst-SCS at 30 min stimulation: p = 0.73, and at 60 min stimulation; p = 0.42).

Conclusions: Testing of MCAS exit latency allows for detection of cognitive-motivational pain relieving aspects induced by either Tonic- or Burst-SCS in treatment of chronic neuropathic rats. Our behavioral findings strongly suggest that Burst-SCS specifically affects, much more than Tonic-SCS, the processing of cognitive-motivational aspects of pain.