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 .
Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion Using rhBMP-2 With Tapered Interbody Cages
In a multicenter , prospect i ve , r and omized , nonblinded , 2-year study , 279 patients with degenerative lumbar disc disease were r and omly divided into two groups that underwent interbody fusion using two tapered threaded fusion cages . The investigational group ( 143 patients ) received rhBMP-2 on an absorbable collagen sponge , and a control group ( 136 patients ) received autogenous iliac crest bone graft . Plain radiographs and computed tomographic scans were used to evaluate fusion at 6 , 12 , and 24 months after surgery . Mean operative time ( 1.6 hours ) and blood loss ( 109.8 mL ) were less in the investigational rhBMP-2 group than in the autograft control group ( 2.0 hours and 153.1 mL ) . At 24 months the investigational group 's fusion rate ( 94.5 % ) remained higher than that of the control group ( 88.7 % ) . New bone formation occurred in all investigational patients . At all intervals , mean postoperative Oswestry , back pain , and leg pain scores and neurologic status improved in both treatment groups with similar outcomes . In the control group , eight adverse events related to the iliac crest graft harvest occurred ( 5.9 % ) , and at 24 months 32 % of patients reported graft site discomfort and 16 % were bothered by its appearance . Lumbar fusion using rhBMP-2 and a tapered titanium fusion cage can yield a solid union and eliminate the need for harvesting iliac crest bone graft
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 .