Trying to live with chronic back pain isn’t easy. It’s even harder when it seems like you’ve tried everything, but nothing provides relief. Fortunately, medical interventions continue getting better, opening new doors toward pain relief. One example is basivertebral nerve ablation — also known as the Intracept® procedure.
Dr. Vladimir Fiks offers the latest proven approaches for disruptive pain disorders at Advanced Pain Management Center in Portland, Oregon. If you have chronic back pain, here’s what you should know about basivertebral nerve ablation.
Unlike other back pain treatments, the Intracept procedure specifically targets symptoms associated with vertebral endplates located in your spine.
Your spinal column contains numerous bones — or vertebrae — stacked one on top of the other with a cushiony disc in between. The intervertebral discs give your spine flexibility and help absorb shock when you walk, jump, and run.
But there’s another layer of tissue in the area: the vertebral endplate.
These thin structures connect the vertebra to the disc. Made of bone and cartilage, they contain branches of the basic vertebral nerve, which lies within the vertebra. When damage occurs to a vertebral endplate, it can trigger pain within the vertebrae.
Basivertebral nerve ablation addresses this pain by disabling the nerve so it can no longer send the signals to your brain that trigger your symptoms.
Since this treatment targets the basivertebral nerve, it’s most effective for vertebrogenic pain. In more general terms, it’s an option if you have damage to end plates in your vertebrae.
Symptoms associated with vertebrogenic pain often include:
Two common conditions that cause this type of damage include degenerative disc disease and herniated discs. Dr. Fiks can often identify endplate damage on digital scans, like MRIs.
If you have vertebrogenic pain that hasn’t responded to physical therapy, medication, or spine injections, Dr. Fiks could suggest basivertebral nerve ablation.
Basivertebral nerve ablation typically takes 60-90 minutes, and you receive general anesthesia to keep you comfortable throughout.
Dr. Fiks performs basivertebral nerve ablation while you lie on your stomach. First, he makes a tiny incision in your back at the treatment site. Then, Dr. Fiks uses real-time digital guidance to insert a thin, hollow tube into the problem vertebra.
Once in place, Dr. Fiks passes tiny instruments through this tube to create a small channel where the basivertebral nerve enters the vertebra.
Finally, Dr. Fiks inserts a thin probe into the channel to ablate — or damage — the “trunk” of the basivertebral nerve so pain signals no longer pass between its branches into the vertebra.
After ablating the basivertebral nerve, Dr. Fiks removes the instruments and closes your incision, either with a few sutures or surgical glue. You can go home to recover the same day after your sedation wears off. However, you need someone to drive you.
In most cases, you typically rest as much as possible and avoid vigorous activity for approximately 48 hours. You may have minor tenderness, bruising, and swelling, but it usually responds to over-the-counter pain relievers.
Most people undergoing basivertebral nerve ablation for vertebrogenic pain experience significant pain reduction that lasts five years or longer.
Are conventional treatments failing to manage your chronic back pain? Contact Advanced Pain Management Center by calling or booking a visit online to see if basivertebral nerve ablation could be right for you.
