RESULTS The results of this review confirm and help quantify the significant differences that existed in the terminology and all the areas of diagnosis and treatment of presumed discogenic pain .
Our findings show that suspected discogenic pain , despite its extensive affirmation in the literature and enormous re sources regularly devoted to it , currently lacks clear diagnostic criteria and uniform treatment or terminology
BACKGROUND CONTEXT Pain innate to intervertebral disc , often referred to as discogenic pain , is suspected by some authors to be the major source of chronic low back and neck pain .
Current management of suspected discogenic pain lacks st and ardized diagnosis , treatment , and terminology .
PURPOSE In an attempt to determine whether patterns existed that may facilitate st and ardization of care , we sought to analyze the terminologies used and the various modes of diagnosis and treatment of suspected discogenic pain .
Intradiscal methylene blue injection for the treatment of chronic discogenic low back pain
This article was a preliminary report of prospect i ve clinical trial of a group of patients with chronic discogenic low back pain who met the criteria for lumbar interbody fusion surgery but were treated instead with an intradiscal injection of methylene blue ( MB ) for the pain relief . Twenty-four patients with chronic discogenic low back pain underwent diagnostic discography with intradiscal injection of MB . The principal criteria to judge the effectiveness included alleviation of pain , assessed by visual analog scale ( VAS ) , and improvement in disability , as assessed with the Oswestry Disability Index ( ODI ) for functional recovery . The mean follow-up period was 18.2 months ( range 12–23 months ) . Of the 24 patients , 21 ( 87 % ) reported a disappearance or marked alleviation of low back pain , and experienced a definite improvement in physical function . A statistically significant and clinical ly meaningful improvement in the changes in the ODI and the VAS scores were obtained in the patients with chronic discogenic low back pain ( P=0.0001 ) after the treatment . The study suggests that the injection of MB into the painful disc may be a very effective alternative for the surgical treatment of chronic discogenic low back pain
RESULTS The results of this review confirm and help quantify the significant differences that existed in the terminology and all the areas of diagnosis and treatment of presumed discogenic pain .
Our findings show that suspected discogenic pain , despite its extensive affirmation in the literature and enormous re sources regularly devoted to it , currently lacks clear diagnostic criteria and uniform treatment or terminology
BACKGROUND CONTEXT Pain innate to intervertebral disc , often referred to as discogenic pain , is suspected by some authors to be the major source of chronic low back and neck pain .
Current management of suspected discogenic pain lacks st and ardized diagnosis , treatment , and terminology .
PURPOSE In an attempt to determine whether patterns existed that may facilitate st and ardization of care , we sought to analyze the terminologies used and the various modes of diagnosis and treatment of suspected discogenic pain .