Data Shows Abbott Neuromod Tech Cuts Pain-Related Healthcare Visits

Abbott revealed new five-year data showing that its neuromodulation therapies, which include BurstDR spinal cord stimulation (SCS) waveform and dorsal root ganglion stim tech, can significantly reduce healthcare visits related to chronic pain.

The retrospective analysis was shared at this week’s North American Neuromodulation Society (NANS) annual meeting. It demonstrated that Abbott’s SCS therapy reduced those healthcare visits in both the short- and long-term, and that patients lowered their pain-related care by an average 75% after five years of using an SCS.

“Chronic pain is often a time-intensive and costly condition for people to live with, not only because of the number of office visits they must make to manage their pain, but also due to the need for repeat diagnostic imaging, physical therapy, medications and time away from work,” said Timothy Deer, M.D., DABPM, president and chief executive officer of the Spine and Nerve Centers of the Virginias in Charleston, W.Va. , and lead author on the study. “With spinal cord stimulation, we can dramatically reduce the burden placed on patients who suffer from chronic pain and help them return to a level of normality that many of them believe they have lost.”

Further real-world evidence presented at NANS was a retrospective study of 834 patients treated with the company’s Proclaim dorsal root ganglion (DRG) system for complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) Type 1 and 2, peripheral neuropathy, back pain and failed back surgery syndrome. After reaching the five-year mark, patients experienced an average of 73% reduction in pain-related healthcare use.

A separate 127-patient study showed long-term patient preference and sustained benefit—92% of them reported a preference for BurstDR. The tech uses pulses (or bursts) of mild electrical energy to change pain as it travels through the spinal cord to the brain.

The company also announced it earned U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for prone MRI scans with its chronic pain portfolio, including the Proclaim SCS family, Eterna SCS system, and the Proclaim DRG neurostimulation system. This approval applies to both new and existing patients, ensuring that anyone living with an Abbott system can benefit from expanded MRI capabilities.

In April 2025, the company launched a next-gen delivery system that aims to streamline the implantation process for electrodes used as part of its Proclaim DRG.

Abbott’s research efforts include exploring new classes of stimulation waveforms to enhance therapeutic efficacy and leveraging data-rich neuromodulation systems to better understand how patients experience and communicate pain. These efforts are intended to support more informed, clinically actionable conversations between patients and physicians and to advance more individualized approaches to chronic pain management.

“Chronic pain can be difficult to understand and appreciate unless you have endured it, and it can be difficult for people to describe or quantify, even when talking with doctors who specialize in pain. It is critical that we continue to push for new ways to help people quantify their pain, so they can receive the care they need, when they need it,” said Ryan Lakin, vice president, neuromodulation, Abbott. “At Abbott, we are committed to continuing to push the bounds for people suffering from chronic pain, so they have access to the best care possible and provide them with impactful innovation that allows them to return to the life they want to lead in the way they want to lead it.”