Expanding Indications for Epidural Spinal Cord Stimulation in Spinal Cord Injury

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Epidural spinal cord stimulation (ESCS) has long been used to treat chronic neuropathic pain, but a growing body of evidence supports its use as a neuromodulatory intervention for spinal cord injury (SCI) itself, targeting motor, autonomic, bladder, bowel, and respiratory deficits rather than pain. Landmark studies show that lumbosacral and cervical ESCS, combined with activity-based rehabilitation, can enable volitional movement, standing, and stepping after chronic, motor-complete SCI, with gains persisting after stimulation is switched off in a subset of participants. For cardiovascular indications, recent head-to-head evidence indicates that the last three thoracic spinal cord segments, rather than the lumbosacral cord used in earlier studies, are the optimal stimulation target for safe, effective blood pressure regulation. Methods: Narrative Review. Results: This review summarizes the mechanistic rationale for ESCS in SCI, synthesizes recent (2022–2026) clinical and safety data across motor, cardiovascular, and bladder/bowel domains, catalogs the current international landscape of ongoing clinical trials grouped by level of evidence, and reports perspectives from the SCI patient community and treating clinicians on the priorities, barriers, and ethical considerations that will shape clinical translation. We also briefly contextualize ESCS for SCI within two non-SCI applications most mechanistically and translationally proximate to this literature—post-stroke upper-limb hemiparesis and cardiac autonomic modulation. Conclusions: We conclude with a discussion of methodological and translational barriers—small sample sizes, limited blinding, procedural risk, and variable responder profiles—that must be addressed before ESCS for SCI can move from investigational feasibility studies toward standard-of-care therapy.