Hi shimmy ~
here are some treatments for tears of the disc. I am not sure if this is what you are talking about?
intradiscal electrothermoplasty (idet)
this procedure involves the insertion of a needle into the affected disc with the guidance of an x-ray machine. A wire is then threaded down through the needle and into the disc until it lies along the inner wall of the annulus. The wire is then heated which destroys the small nerve fibers that have grown into the cracks and have invaded the degenerating disc.
The heat also partially melts the annulus, which triggers the body to generate new reinforcing proteins in the fibers of the annulus. A study of fifty-three patients with discogenic back pain was published in the october issue of the journal, spine. Depending on the stringency of criteria used, the success rate of idet may be as low as 23% or as high as 60%.
radiofrequency discal nucleoplasty (coblation nucleoplasty)
nucleoplasty is even newer than idet; it has been available for only a few months. Similar to the idet procedure, a needle is inserted into the disc. Instead of a heating wire, a special radiofrequency probe is inserted through the needle into the disc. This probe generates a highly focused plasma field with enough energy to break up the molecular bonds of the gel in the nucleus, essentially vaporizing some of the nucleus. The result is that 10-20% of the nucleus is removed which decompresses the disc and reduces the pressure both on the disc and the surrounding nerve roots. This technique may be more beneficial for sciatica type of pain than the idet, since nucleoplasty can actually reduce the disc bulge, which is pressing on a nerve root. The high-energy plasma field is actually generated at relatively low temperatures, so danger to surrounding tissues is minimized.
These new techniques are exciting. They offer the possibility of treating discogenic low back pain and sciatica with much less trauma and risk than surgery, but we must remember that these are still unproven technologies. I'll keep you posted on how research on these techniques develops, but it's great that we have some new tools to help people with this often debilitating problem.
Shirl :wink:
