Here are five observations:
1. The procedure uses two water-cooled needles to blast radiofrequency energy at the nerves fibers within and around a spinal disc that’s begun to degenerate but has not ruptured.
2. Michael Gofeld, MD, a chronic pain management specialist at St. Michael’s Hospital and Women’s College Hospital in Toronto, Canada, led the research.
3. A year out from treatment, half of the patients who received IDB in the study said they still were experiencing significant pain reduction.
4. Prior studies have found that discogenic back pain accounts for 39 percent of cases of chronic lower back pain.
5. The procedure takes about half an hour, followed by six weeks of physical therapy. Ideal patients have lower back pain that does not shoot down the legs and limited disc degeneration, with no significant tears or ruptures.
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