New Treatment For Relief Of Back Pain

According to a new study, that was presented at the Radiological Society of North America, a minimally invasive treatment left the majority of patients pain free after they receiving the new image guided pulsed radiofrequency treatment for sciatica and lower back pain.
Lower back pain is a very common issue that affects up to 80% of the populous at some point in their lives, usually linked to a job related injury, affecting both genders equally. Most back pain in short term, with about 20% affected by acute lower back pain progressing into chronic lower back pain lasting more than a year. Lower back pain can spread to the knees, this happens when a compressed or herniated disk is involved which the cushion between the vertebrae impinges on nearby nerves.
The study included 80 patients that had experienced 3 months of lower back pain due to herniated disks that did not respond to treatments including medication and exercise. They underwent minimally invasive interventional radiology procedure with the help of CT imaging. A needle is guided to the disc and nerve root, a probe is inserted that delivered pulsed radiofrequency energy over a 10 minutes session to the area. The pulsation serves to resolve the hernia without even touching the disc.
80 patients were treated, of which 81% were pain free one year after receiving a single treatment, with only 6 patients requiring a second treatment, and 90% were able to decline and avoid surgical treatment. Zero patients reported any side effects after this minimally invasive outpatient treatment, according to Alessandro Napoli M.D., Ph.D. Adding that patients ae relieved of pain and resumed all of their normal activities with a day.