• Annals of Clinical Neurophysiology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.3-6
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• 2010

The British guideline for early management of persistent low back pain, published in 2009, indicated that physicians should offer exercise or medication, rather than radiological interventions or injections, as first choice of treatment in the patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP). However, there had been great controversies regarding the effectiveness of interventional treatment of patients with CLBP. Both somatic (discogenic, instability, etc) and psychosocial factors contribute to the pathophysiology of chronic low back pain (CLBP). Although it can be difficult in many occasions, thorough interview with the patients and specific diagnostic approaches can help us to identify which is the main etiology in individual patient. With the recent progress in medical radiology and development of new therapeutic modalities, some subgroups of patients of CLBP caused by somatic factors appear to be good candidates of interventional therapy. Interventional therapy can be considered in patients with CLBP caused by annulus rupture, facet joint degeneration, disc degeneration, and vertebral column instability. Among other subgroups of CLBP, carefully selected patients with disc degeneration show the most favorable result by interventional therapy. In this regard, discogenic pain, either as a form of CLBP or acute discogenic radiculopathy, seems to be a good indication of interventional therapy. Because many spine specialists generally consider those with radiculopathy are easier to be treated, patients with CLBP tend to be subjects of conventional conservative therapy. For these reasons, clinicians should make their best effort to identify every possible somatic cause in patients with CLBP before regarding them as hypochondriacs. In this review, some of the recent evidence on the role of interventional treatment in patients with CLBP will be discussed, and some of our cases who showed favorable results by interventional therapy will be presented.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.247-250
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• 2000

Recently, some authors reported that discogenic low back pain should be regarded as a referred pain in respect of neural pathway. The afferent pathways of discogenic low back pain is transmitted mainly by sympathetic afferent fibres from the sinuvertebral nerves in the second lumbar nerve root. This pain arises from the lumbar intervertebral discs, and it had been transmitted mainly through the sympathetic afferent fibres contained in the second lumbar spinal nerve root. Second lumbar dermatome corresponds to the low back area. We experienced a case of low back pain which could not be controlled by conventional therapy and progressed wax and wane. The CT finding showed bulging disc between $L_4$ and $L_5$ and spinal stenosis in $L_4$ area. And epiduroscopic feature showed severe adhesion in $L_4$, $L_5$ and $S_1$. After we blocked $L_2$ root, pain score decreased 10 to 2. Therefore, the $L_2$ root block may be a useful diagnostic procedure as well as provide therapeutic value.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.441-445
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• 2007

Objective : The purpose of this study was to investigate the surgical results and prognostic factors for patients with soft cervical disc herniation with myelopathy. Methods : During the last 7 years, 26 patients with cervical discogenic myelopathy were undertaken anterior discectomy and fusion. Clinical and radiographic features were reviewed to evaluate the surgical results and prognostic factors. The clinical outcome was judged using two grading systems (Herkowitz's scale and Nurick's grade). Results : Male were predominant (4:1), and C5-6 was the most frequently involved level. Gait disturbance, variable degree of spasticity, discomfort in chest and abdomen, hand numbness were the most obvious signs. Magnetic resonance(MR) images showed that central disc herniation was revealed in 16 cases, and accompanying cord signal changes in 4. Postoperatively, 23 patients showed favorable results (excellent, good and fair) according to Herkowitz's scale. Conclusion : Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion effectively reduced myelopathic symptoms due to soft cervical disc herniation. The authors assured that the shorter duration of clinical attention, the lesser the degree of myelopathy and better outcome in discogenic myelopathy.

• Clinical Pain
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.142-146
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• 2019

This is a case report of the provocative discographic findings before and after focal selective coagulation of the major annular fissure using intradiscal navigable catheter. A 46-year-old woman had a 30-month history of axial low back pain and magnetic resonance imaging findings suspicious for painful L4/5 disc. The provocative discography confirmed painful disc before coagulation. The final electrode tip position in the coagulation procedure was at the largest fissure within the outer annular margin identified through the discography. Six months after the successful coagulation therapy, inadvertently performed discography resulted in decreased pressure rise over time. Neither evoked pain nor change in the integrity of outer annulus as compared with the previous results was reported. Such an interventional method has not been reported previously, and the analytic results suggest that it may be possible to relocate the pressure of the entire nucleus pulposus only by focal selective coagulation of the fissure.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.187-191
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• 2005

Background: Discogenic leg pain is a major cause of health problems, often due to herniation of the intervertebral disc, and has traditionally been treated conservatively or with an open surgical discectomy. Conventional open surgery has many complications, such as nerve root injury, discitis and a relatively high mortality rate; failure of conservative treatments is also common. Recently, the $Dekompressor^{(R)}$ Percutaneous Lumbar Discectomy probe was developed. Herein, we present the early results for a percutaneous lumbar discectomy in herniated lumbar disc disease. Methods: Eleven patients, including 8 men and 3 women, with ages ranging from 22 to 78 years, were enrolled in this study. Those patients with a previous history of back surgery were not excluded from the study. All patients were postoperatively evaluated for their clinical outcomes, such as visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain after 1 and 3 months, reduction in analgesics, functional improvement and overall satisfaction. Results: The percutaneous lumbar discectomy was completed in 11 patients (17 levels), with average reductions in pre-VAS of 61.3 and 60.2% at 1 and 3 months, respectively. Also, 72.7% of patients reported functional improvement, with 81.1% expressing overall satisfaction. There were no procedural related complications. Conclusions: We concluded that a percutaneous lumbar discectomy is a safe and effective treatment modality for a herniated lumbar disc.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.23-29
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• 2003

The prevalence of discogenic pain among patients with chronic low back pain is estimated to be about 40%. Lumbar discectomy is being performed as a treatment according to the studies done so far. Recently IDET- Intradiscal electrothermal therapy which is minimally invasive technique is being introduced. This study will investigate important factors of this procedure such as the temperature of heat source, loading times, and the temperature distribution within the intervertebral disc. This study utilized finite element analysis and experiment. It was able to analyze the temperature range of inner intervertebral disc by two mechanisms which are known to alleviate pain clinically. As a result, verification of temperature distribution to 15.6mm($\geq$45$^{\circ}C$) (Mechanism 1-coagulation inner annulus by heat) and 9mm($\geq$6$0^{\circ}C$) (Mechanism 2- contraction inner nucleus by heat) from the heat source was done.

• Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.1683-1686
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• 2018

Low back pain (LBP) is the most common reason for seeking physical therapy (PT) care. Recent studies suggest that axial loading can have a positive impact on the intervertebral disc by improving its tensile strength. Further, whole body vibration (WBV) appears to improve spinal muscle relaxation. Therefore, this case study describes the use of axial loading using a mini-trampoline in a female with chronic LBP. This case report is a single subject design. This patient is a 29-year-old female with a six-month history of low back pain following a motor vehicle accident. MRI found herniated discs at L4 and L5, clinical tests were positive for pain in the L4 and L5 dermatome and myotome the slump test was positive for neural tension, and LBP was constant at 4-6/10 over the past four months. She received axial loading exercises using a mini-trampoline and performed six sessions that were, scheduled twice a week for three weeks. Her Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) score improved from 40% at the time of her first visit to 22% at her final visit. Pain measure on the Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) after the first treatment was 7/10, and her pain after the final treatment was 0/10. These changes in the pain scores are clinically significant and exceed the minimal clinically important difference (MCID). This patient had a significant improvement in her pain using the NPRS and the ODI. This case study suggests that axial loading may be an effective treatment for some individuals with discogenic chronic low back pain.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.447-453
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• 2021

Background: Provocative discography (PD) is a test that is useful in diagnosing discogenic pain (DP). In this study, to diagnose DP, we used a posterolateral approach of needle placement and followed pressure criteria laid down by the Spine Intervention Society. The aim was to identify the correlation between magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings (desiccation, high intensity zone and change in shape and size of the disc) and the results of PD. Methods: Records of 50 patients who underwent PD for DP were analyzed. A total of 109 PDs were performed, with 54 suspect and 55 control discs. Alternate pain generators were ruled out. Results: A total of 35 suspect discs were positive on PD. The mean disc pressure in the suspect disc was 31.9 ± 7.9 psi (range, 15-44). Of the 50 patients who underwent PD, 35 had positive MRI findings. A significant positive correlation was found only between disc desiccation and discography result (r = 0.6, P < 0.001). Logistic regression analysis revealed that only desiccation successfully predicted the result of discography (OR = 26.5, P < 0.001); a high intensity zone and a disc protrusion/extrusion had an OR 2.3 and 1.24, respectively. Disc desiccation of Pfirmann grade 3 or more had a sensitivity and specificity of 0.93 and 0.64 respectively in identifying painful discs; the positive likelihood ratio was 2.58 while the negative likelihood ratio was 0.11. Conclusions: In patients with DP, disc desiccation is the most useful MRI feature that predicts a painful disc on PD.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.652-662
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• 2022

Currently, in the field of spinal surgery around the world, various new technologies have been rapidly developed and applied to patients. The author believes that it is necessary to discuss whether these new technologies are being fully reviewed for efficacy and safety before being applied to patients. To consider this issue, the author analyzed the basic research data and clinical application process of the intradiscal electrothermal therapy, which was developed as a new technology for discogenic pain disease in the 2000s and has been widely used worldwide. As a result, it was found that this procedure has been performed on patients in a state where there is insufficient base research on efficacy and safety. The author judges that this case reveals an essential problem related to the clinical operation of new medical technologies in the field of spine surgery. Therefore, the author believes that in order to minimize the side effects that new medical technology in the field of spinal surgery may have on patients, more full-fledged basic research and higher clinical acceptance standards should be established.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.5-13
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• 2000

This evaluation was made through 11 persons who discogenic disease and it emergency disease. There was all complains low back. with sustained buttock pain with radiating to the leg due to piriformis syndrome during the period of march 2000 to November 1999 in seoul wooridul hospital. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of manual therapy through 11 persons. The results were as follow : 1. Right buttock pain group(n = 11). there was significant difference before manual treatment(P<.05). 2. Pain decreased before Tx then after Tx by VAS.