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Degenerative disc disease patients mostly get better without the need for interventional procedures or spine surgery. This article provides an overview of the nucleoplasty procedure for degenerative disc problems in individuals suffering with back pain alone or those with back pain along with radiculopathy.

Many times simply benign neglect allows the degenerative painful symptoms to get better. Other times, chiropractic treatment, physical therapy, and other aerobic exercise can improve patient symptoms.

Undergoing spine surgery for degenerative disc disease is utilized as a last resort in patients whose back and leg pain is intractable to conservative measures. Potential complications of fusion surgery include scar formation, epidural fibrosis, nerve root injury, failure to fuse, hardware failure, failure to relieve pain, infection, or failed back surgery syndrome.

A number of interventional procedures have been done over the last 2 decades to treat degenerative disc and lumbar disc herniations outside of open surgical techniques.

These have included Intra-discal electrothermal treatment (IDET), chymopapain chemonucleolysis, and nucleotomy procedures. None of these has achieved significant success though, and some have caused nerve root injury, anaphylactic reactions, or even cauda equina syndrome.

Nucleoplasty of the disc was approved in 2000 by the FDA as a percutaneous disc decompression using coblation technology. A piece of the inner disc (the nucleus) is removed and a radiofrequency energy is applied which excites the electrolytes in this area. Molecular bonds are broken down, and some of this inner disc is dissolved.

Keeping the radiofrequency energy at relatively low temperatures, the surrounding disc tissue and end-plate cartilage is unaffected. Reducing the pressure in the center of the disc theoretically relieves the chemical and mechanical factors causing pain. How much of the disc is removed with a nucleoplasty procedure? About ten to twenty percent actually.

There have been studies showing new vascularization (bloodflow) can occur post-procedure, and potentially this could lead to regeneration or healing of the disc.

Most research has displayed no substantial complications related to nucleoplasty. Some soreness occurred after the procedure which resolved, however, there was an incidence of tingling, numbness and some worse back pain.

Looking at all research on nucleoplasty, the average success was seen in 62% of patients. A lot of debate exists as to whether or not nucleoplasty works well in those with simply axial low back pain and not a radicular problem. The procedure has shown, however, that it can improve outcomes in individuals suffering from discogenic back pain either with or without a radicular component.

Want to find out more about our AZ Pain Center, then visit Preferred Pain’s site on how to choose the best Phoenix chiropractors for your needs.