Spinal Cord Stimulation for Restless Legs Syndrome

The overall goal of this proposed study is to evaluate the underlying mechanisms of neural control of blood flow in the lower extremities in humans with restless leg syndrome (RLS). At least 15% of the general public suffers from RLS and many more may go undiagnosed. This unfortunate disorder leads primarily to a disturbing sensation within the patient's lower extremities that requires movement for relief (1, 2). The central hypothesis of our study is that physiological changes in lower limb blood flow as a result of thoracolumbar epidural Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS) lead to the relief of RLS.