Bipolar spinal cord stimulation for spasmodic torticollis.

Four years' experience with electrical stimulation of the cervical cord is reported for 18 patients suffering from spasmodic torticollis. Permanent 1,100-Hz stimulation of the C2-C4 level resulted in a marked improvement in 50% of the patients, in a satisfactory result in 27.8% and in an unsatisfactory result in 22.2%. Muscular tension and related pain were reduced within 8 days to 4 months postoperatively. A measurable improvement of head posture rendered objective by a mechanoelectrical measuring device could only be observed after a continuous stimulation over 8-12 months. The procedure is nondestructive and reversible, complications consisted only in those related to the stimulation system itself.