The FDA approved the use of a spinal cord stimulation therapy for the treatment of chronic pain caused by diabetic peripheral neuropathy, according to a press release from Medtronic.

This indication will allow adults with diabetic peripheral neuropathy to be treated with Medtronic’s Intellis rechargeable neurostimulator and Vanta recharge-free neurostimulator.

Studies demonstrated that treatment with spinal cord stimulation resulted in significant chronic pain relief for 70% of patients receiving the therapy compared with 6% of patients who received conventional treatments alone. In addition, patients treated with spinal cord stimulation experienced an average of a 53% pain reduction, according to the release.

A long-term analysis also demonstrated that treatment with Medtronic’s spinal cord stimulation technology resulted in 80% of patients treated continuing to use their devices over 5 years for chronic pain reduction, according to the release.

“[Diabetic peripheral neuropathy] is a significant challenge for patients with diabetes, leading to disability and a diminished quality of life,” Charlie Covert, vice president and general manager of Pain Therapies at Medtronic, said in the release. “This new indication enables us to apply Medtronic’s more than 40 years of proven [spinal cord stimulation] experience, as well as the company’s deep diabetes expertise, to deliver better care to even greater numbers of diabetes patients.”