Paraplegic walks again after innovative spinal cord stimulation
File photo.
The placement of a permanent continuous stimulation system in the spinal cord area, analogous to a cardiac pacemaker, has allowed a 38-year-old woman to walk again after five years in a wheelchair. She had fallen from a great height, damaging her spinal cord and losing sensation from the navel down. She can now stand and walk with a wheeled walker, increasing the distance she walks each day.
The surgery was performed eight months ago by Damianos Sakkas, professor emeritus of neurosurgery at the University of Athens and president emeritus of the European Society of Functional Neurosurgery.
She is the first in Greece to receive the innovative treatment and one of the few who have been treated globally.
