Until recently, the only adequate treatment for patients who did not respond to noninterventional treatment was surgical fusion, a process that carries significant expense and risk. In this treatment, a pain management specialist uses X-ray guidance to insert a needle into the injured disc. The heat destroys the abnormal nerves and blood vessels and remodels the injured connective tissue in order to re-stabilize the disc. Most patients have at least 50 percent of their back pain relieved within a few days of the procedure and experience at least a 70 percent improvement of function. The treatment also appears to be effective in the long term.
Patients are sent home that same day, so no hospital stay is necessary.
The only external evidence of the procedure is a Band-Aid over the needle site. The therapy is so effective patients often feel relief from pain immediately following the procedure. Additionally, the doctors have noted immediate changes in the discs that indicate early healing. Since IDET was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in March 1998, more than 10,000 patients nationally have had the procedure. Advantages over traditional therapies include increased effectiveness, significantly reduced cost and no need for hospitalization.