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  • Spine
  • Pain

Trial or No Trial? The Future of SCS Selection

Details

Date
Saturday, January 23, 2027
Time
10:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Room
Milano Ballroom VII & VIII
Session type
Concurrent Session
Schedule
See this day

About

This controversy-based panel will examine whether the conventional screening trial paradigm for spinal cord stimulation (SCS) still represents best practice in 2027. Speakers will review the evidence comparing trial-first versus direct-to-implant strategies, discuss how trial duration may influence both signal quality and infection risk, analyze how false positives and responder enrichment bias can distort both research and real-world decision-making, and evaluate the cost-effectiveness implications of maintaining or abandoning trial-based selection. The session is designed to move beyond dogma and provide attendees with a practical, evidence-informed framework for patient selection in modern SCS practice.

Learning objectives

  • Review the randomized and observational evidence comparing screening trial and no-trial/direct-to-implant SCS pathways.
  • Assess how trial duration influences safety, interpretability, and procedural efficiency and recognize how false positives, false negatives, & responder enrichment bias distort clinical selection & published trial results.
  • Apply cost-effectiveness and budget-impact principles to contemporary SCS selection pathways.

Faculty

Presentations