Coryell Health Brings Smallest Rechargeable Spinal Cord Stimulator to Gatesville

For Coryell County residents enduring chronic back pain, getting access to advanced neuromodulation therapy once meant a round trip to Waco or Temple before any treatment began. That travel burden ends with Coryell Health's addition of Abbott's Eterna spinal cord stimulation system, now available at its Gatesville campus through two pain management physicians: Dr. Richard Hurley and Dr. Austin Horrocks, DO.

Dr. Hurley brings more than 35 years of board-certified pain management experience to the practice. He currently serves as President of the Texas Pain Society and as a Regional Consultant for Boston Scientific Spinal Cord Stimulation, performing stimulator trials and permanent implants at Coryell Memorial Surgical. Dr. Horrocks, who relocated to Gatesville after practicing in larger cities including San Antonio, also sees patients for Eterna consultations.

The Eterna targets three specific patient populations: those with post-operative back or leg pain following spinal surgery, people experiencing nonsurgical back pain who are not surgical candidates, and patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy. For all three groups, the system offers a path to pain relief without opioid prescriptions or ongoing physical therapy.

Abbott received FDA approval for the Eterna in December 2022. The device's defining technical advantage over earlier rechargeable stimulators is its implant profile, which runs up to 58% smaller than competing rechargeable systems. Its Xtend energy technology reduces the charging requirement to just five times per year, the lowest recharge frequency of any spinal cord stimulation platform currently on the market.

The Eterna's pain relief mechanism relies on Abbott's BurstDR stimulation technology, which delivers low-dose electrical pulses to the spinal cord in patterns designed to mirror the brain's own natural firing rhythms, disrupting pain signals before they reach the brain. Unlike traditional tonic stimulation, which produces a constant tingling sensation, BurstDR's patterned approach proved preferable to 87% of patients in clinical studies and demonstrated 23% greater pain reduction than conventional waveform methods, supported by the highest tier of clinical evidence.

Patients manage their therapy through Abbott's companion smartphone app, adjusting stimulation settings under physician supervision. The process begins with a trial phase using a temporary external device to confirm that a patient responds to stimulation before a permanent implant is placed at Coryell Memorial Surgical.

Coryell County residents interested in a consultation with Dr. Hurley or Dr. Horrocks can call Coryell Health at (254) 865-2166.