Experimental Evaluation of the Risk of Extradiscal Thermal Damage in Intradiscal Electrothermal Therapy (IDET)

摘要

In 2000 the intradiscal electrothermal therapy (IDET) procedure for the treatment of discogenic pain was introduced. The technique involves the positioning of an intradiscal catheter with a temperature-controlled thermal resistive heating coil at the inner posterior annulus. The therapeutic mechanism of IDET combines the thermo-coagulation of native nociceptors and in-grown nonmyelinated nerve fibers with collagen shrinkage, stabilizing annular fissures. Thermal nerve root injuries were described with IDET. The temperature in relation to the distance from the catheter tip was investigated. The intradiscal temperature distribution during treatment with IDET was also described.