ABBOTT PARK, Ill., Jan. 23, 2026 — Abbott today announced new five-year data demonstrating that its neuromodulation therapies, including its proprietary BurstDR™ spinal cord stimulation (SCS) waveform and dorsal root ganglion stimulation technology, can significantly reduce pain-related healthcare visits for people living with chronic pain. The data, shared at the North American Neuromodulation Society 2026 Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, highlight Abbott’s continued commitment to advancing long-term, patient-centered solutions that address the clinical needs and everyday challenges of chronic pain.
Chronic pain affects more than one in five people in the U.S. and is estimated to cost $722.8 billion annually, including $530.6 billion in medical care and $192.2 billion in lost productivity.1 In addition, people with chronic pain pay an average of $8,068 more in healthcare expenses and lose $2,923 in productivity each year than those without the condition.1 As much as 69% of the direct cost of medical treatment for a pain diagnosis can be attributed to office visits and hospital stays.2
A retrospective analysis presented at NANS showed that Abbott’s SCS therapy reduced the number of pain-related healthcare visits in both the short- and long-term, with patients reducing their pain-related care by an average of 75% after five years of SCS use.3
“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.”
Additional real-world evidence presented at NANS included a retrospective study of 834 people treated with the Abbott Proclaim™ dorsal root ganglion (DRG) system for a range of chronic pain conditions, including 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.4
Long-term patient preference and sustained benefit were also demonstrated in a separate study of 127 patients evaluating Abbott’s proprietary BurstDR stimulation. At five years, 92% of patients reported a preference for BurstDR, which uses pulses—or bursts—of mild electrical energy to change pain as it travels from the spinal cord to the brain and is preferred to traditional "tingling" tonic stimulation.5 Patients using Abbott’s SCS system also reported sustained improvements in pain relief and physical function, along with reductions in pain catastrophizing to the level of a normal, healthy population, beginning at six months post-implant and maintained for over five years.6
Abbott expands MRI access for people living with chronic pain
Alongside new clinical data, Abbott announced that it has received 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. Prone MRI capabilities are essential for physicians diagnosing conditions that require face-down positioning, including breast cancer and upper-extremity scans such as hand and elbow evaluations, where prone positioning provides better access and stability for high-quality imaging.
In addition to the prone MRI enhancements, this expanded indication brings significant enhancements to both new and existing patients implanted with a Proclaim™ SCS system and a Penta™ paddle lead, including labeling updates that further improve patient safety and the addition of full-spine imaging capabilities with leads placed at any level of the spine. Expanded MRI compatibility is important as nearly 84% of people with spinal cord stimulators will need at least one MRI within five years of implantation.7
As evidenced by this approval, Abbott designs technology that can evolve with patients to support the long-term needs of people living with chronic pain. Beyond expanding access to advanced imaging compatibility, Abbott continues to invest in research aimed at improving how neuromodulation therapies are developed, personalized and used in real-world clinical settings.
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.”
For U.S. important safety information on the Abbott Proclaim DRG neurostimulation system, visit: https://bit.ly/3SheU6s.
For U.S. important safety information on Abbott's SCS systems, visit: https://bit.ly/4jJTtqJ.
About Abbott:
Abbott is a global healthcare leader that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. Our portfolio of life-changing technologies spans the spectrum of healthcare, with leading businesses and products in diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic medicines. Our 115,000 colleagues serve people in more than 160 countries. Connect with us at abbott.com and on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.
1 Guy GP Jr, Miller GF, Legha JK, et al. Economic Costs of Chronic Pain-United States, 2021. Med Care. 2025;63(9):679-685. doi:10.1097/MLR.0000000000002181.
2 Gaskin DJ, Richard P. The Economic Costs of Pain in the United States. In: Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Advancing Pain Research, Care, and Education. Relieving Pain in America: A Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care, Education, and Research. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2011. Appendix C. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK92521/
3 Deer T, Pilitsis J, Dickerson D, Abd-Elsayed A, Falowski S, Hagedorn J, Hunter C, Petersen EA, Sayed D, Skaribas I, Tomycz N, Benison AM, Bettampadi D, Hu Y, Chuang JS, Roberts GJ, Ram Y, Burton A, Lad N. Spinal Cord Stimulation Reduces Pain-Related Healthcare Utilization: A Real-World Data Analysis. Las Vegas (NV): North American Neuromodulation Society; 2026
4 Chapman K, Patel K, Lubenow T, Kalia H, Hunter C, Skaribas I, Patterson D, Benison AM, Bettampadi D, Hu Y, Chuang JS, Roberts GJ, Ram Y, Cuberovic I, Burton A, Tabatabaei P, Deer T. Dorsal Root Ganglion Stimulation Reduces Healthcare Utilization in Patients with Diverse Pain Etiologies: A Real-World Data Analysis. Las Vegas (NV): North American Neuromodulation Society; 2026
5 Deer T, Slavin KV, Amirdelfan K, et al. Success Using Neuromodulation With BURST (SUNBURST) Study: Results From a Prospective, Randomized Controlled Trial Using a Novel Burst Waveform. Neuromodulation. 2017;20(6):543-552.
6 Falowski S, Fishell M, Di Dato MT, Wilson D, Heros R, Cornidez E, Blomme B, Schultz D. Burst SCS Provides Sustained Outcomes Up to Five Years After Implantation in Chronic Pain Patients. Las Vegas (NV): North American Neuromodulation Society; 2026
7 Desai MJ, Hargens LM, Breitenfeldt MD, et al. The rate of magnetic resonance imaging in patients with spinal cord stimulation. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2015;40(9):E531-E537. doi:10.1097/BRS.0000000000000805
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