Percutaneous disc compression provides long-term back pain relief

December 2009
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While the results of a recent randomized control trial comparing conservative care to percutaneous disc decompression for patients with painful herniated discs showed that both treatments provide short-term improvements, only disc decompression provided up to 2 years of pain relief, according to investigators, who presented the study last week at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

“Most protocols call for a minimal approach to initially treat a herniated disc,” Alexios Kelekis, MD, PhD, a co-author of the study and assistant professor of interventional radiology at the University of Athens in Greece, an RSNA press release reported. “But by deflating the disc and giving the nerve root the space it needs, disc decompression solves the problem of root irritation and prevails in the long run.”

Kelekis and his colleagues studied 31 patients with a mean age of 36 years who had herniated discs and sciatica confirmed by MRI. All of the patients reported back and leg pain and had previously undergone unsuccessful conservative treatment.

One group of patients had percutaneous decompression, while another underwent 6 weeks of conservative treatment consisting of analgesics, anti-inflammatory drugs and muscle relaxants. After treatment, the patients were clinically evaluated and completed a questionnaire regarding pain, mobility and quality of life at 3, 12 and 24 months.

The investigators found that both groups reported decreased pain and increased mobility at 3 months. While they discovered that patients in the percutaneous decompression group continued to show improvements at 1- and 2-year follow-up, they found that the conservative group noted a return of their pain and decreased mobility.

“Up until 12 months following therapy, both groups of patients were doing great,” Kelekis noted in the release. “But by 12 months beyond treatment, patients who received only conservative therapy had returned to their initial pain levels.”

Reference:
RSNA.org: index