Pianissimo is a three-arm multicenter randomized controlled trial to evaluate whether an opioid tapering program before spinal cord stimulation (SCS) implantation is more effective in reducing disability after 12 months in patients with Persistent Spinal Pain Syndrome Type II who are scheduled for SCS implantation compared with usual care. Two different tapering programs are evaluated in this project.
The Pianissimo project is an interdisciplinary research project combining expertise in neurosurgery and pain medicine, epidemiology and statistics, health services research and psychiatry. More details on the project can be found at: https://stimulus.research.vub.be/en/pianissimo
Within this project researchers of I-CHER focus on the societal and health economic impact of the trial. For example, differences in healthcare expenditure, indirect costs and quality of life are investigated.
This project is funded by FWO-TBM (Research Foundation Flanders -Applied Biomedical Research with a Primary Social finality)
Contact person of the project: Frenn Bultinck