Basivertebral nerve ablation beneficial for chronic back pain

(HealthDay)—For patients with chronic lumbar back pain, ablation of the basivertebral nerve (BVN) improves self-reported outcome at three months and through one year, according to a study published in the February issue of The Spine Journal.

Stephan Becker, M.D., from the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Experimental and Clinical Traumatology in Vienna, and colleagues examined the efficacy of intraosseous BVN ablation for treatment of chronic lumbar back pain. Seventeen patients with chronic low back pain for more than six months, which was unresponsive to at least three months of conservative care, were enrolled and 16 patients were treated successfully.

The researchers found that the mean baseline Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) was 52 ± 13 for the treated cohort, which decreased to a mean of 23 ± 12 at three months' follow-up (P < 0.001). This statistically significant improvement was maintained through 12 months of follow-up. There was a decrease in the mean baseline visual analogue scale score from 61 ± 22 to 45 ± 35 at three months' follow-up (P < 0.05), and an increase in the mean baseline physical component summary from 34.5 ± 6.5 to 41.7 ± 12.4 (P = 0.03).

"Ablation of the BVN for the treatment of chronic lumbar back pain significantly improves patients' self-reported outcome early in the follow-up period; the improvement persisted throughout the one-year study period," the authors write.

Two authors disclosed financial ties to Relievant Medsystems.

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