Fig. 1

CONSORT flow diagram of patient enrollment and follow-up. This figure illustrates the study flow from initial screening to patient allocation and follow-up. A total of 140 patients were enrolled and equally distributed between the stSCS and bPRF groups. The diagram details the number of patients assessed for eligibility, exclusions (with reasons), allocation to treatment arms, and follow-up at designated intervals (1, 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months)