Nerve Ablation...

Hi ellen ~ :d

please check you pm (private messages)

shirl :d

Ellen,

i think what you are referring to is rhizotomy. You could google the word rhizotomy and find information on this procedure.

Http://www.Google.Com/search?So urceid=navclient&ie=utf-8&rls=gglg ,gglg:2006-08,gglg:en&q=facet+rhizotom y

my first pain management doctor wanted to do a rhizotomy, but my oss did not think that it would help me.

You will find that some people think it is a real help to dissolving their pain, while others have seen no improvment. I would get other opinions from other pain management docs or from your spinal surgeon before allowing this procedure. I would also make certain that you have an experienced doctor that has done this procedure many times. There are serious consequences with this procedure if you are not in the hands of an experienced doc.

rhizotomy as described by spine universe:

http://spinetalk.Conforums.Com/index.Cgi? Board=treatment&action=display&num =1156348462&start=0

the facet joints are often the primary source of pain for many back pain sufferers. Facet joints are small joints located in pairs on the back of the spine that provide stability to the spine and allow the spine to move and be flexible.


Depending on where the problematic facet joints are located, they can cause pain in the mid-back, ribs, chest (thoracic facet joints), lower back, abdomen, buttocks, groin, or legs (lumbar facet joints), neck, shoulders, and even headaches (cervical facet joints).

Facet joint injections of steroid medications are often given to patients with this type of pain. The injections not only provide pain relief, they can also help the physician pinpoint exactly where the pain originates and can confirm or reject the facet joints as the source of the pain. For many patients, facet joint injections provide adequate relief. For others, however, the pain relief is too short-lived. For these patients, facet rhizotomy may be the answer.

what is facet rhizotomy?
the goal of a facet rhizotomy is to provide pain relief by "shutting off" the pain signals that the joints send to the brain. The pain relief experienced by most patients who have this procedure lasts months or even years.

how it is done
patients who are candidates for rhizotomy typically have undergone several facet joint injections to verify the source and exact location of their pain. Using a local anesthetic and x-ray guidance, a needle with an electrode at the tip is placed along side the small nerves to the facet joint. The electrode is then heated, with a technology called radiofrequency, to deaden these nerves that carry pain signals to the brain.

Serious complications with facet rhizotomies are rare. A new technique using pulsed radiofrequency does not actually burn the nerve, but appears to stun the nerve. This technique appears to be even safer than the regular radiofrequency technique, but does seem to have the drawback of not lasting quite as long. Some specialists (such as the author) prefer to use the pulsed technique in higher risk areas such as the neck.

The procedure takes about 30-60 minutes. Afterwards, patients are monitored for a short time before being released.


as you can see the nerve is not cut, it is burned. The surgeons use the term “shutting off “ the signal, but it does not mean cutting like with scissors.

this procedure can be done using two different methods. I was offered both and both are deemed effective.

One method is as described here and the other is by cryoablation. During this procedure cold is used and is described here:

cryoneurolysis/cryoablation: a technique that relieves pain by using cold to destroy nerve tissue.


radiofrequency nerve ablation is the term used when radio waves are generated and used to produce heat. By generating heat around a nerve, the nerves ability to transmit pain is destroyed, thus ablating the nerve.


Rhizotomy- surgical severance of spinal nerve roots to relieve pain or hypertension.

severance can be performed by cryoneurolysis/cryoablation and radiofrequency nerve ablation. These are two methods of deadening the nerve tissue and stopping the pain. The nerve is severed during these procedures.





http://spinetalk.Confor ums.Com/index.Cgi
http://tarlovcspine. Conforums.Com/index.Cgi

Hi ellen & gloria ~

here's a little information of the difference between radiofrequency nerve ablation (heat/burned) and rhizotomy (cutting).


radiofrequency nerve ablation -
facet joints are one source of back pain. Radiofrequency nerve ablation uses radio waves to produce heat directed at a specific facet joint nerve. The heat destroys the nerve and relieves pain.

rhizotomy - surgical procedure in which spinal nerve roots are cut; done (anterior roots) to relieve intractable pain or (posterior roots) to stop severe muscle spasms.

Ellen ~

please feel free to copy and paste your post on sab. :d

shirl :d

What are those serious complications you were refering too? I had the facet nerves burned off over a month ago and am in worse shape than i was before. I go back to the the doctor in the morning. I really think he may have screwed up or something. I had bad back pain before but i was still able to be pretty active but now, I can hardly walk some days.

There is as much confusion about the terms by doctors that do not perform the procedures as with patients.
Rhizotomy means literally cutting the root. Long ago it was discovered cutting the anterior roots do not help pain and lead to permanent paralysis, therefore surgical transsection of nerve roots is no longer performed. The dorsal root ganglion, part of the sensory aspect of the nerve, is capable of being heated or pulsed with EM energy....therefore RF DRG thermal ablation (aka "rhizotomy") is possible and performed by a select few. The DRG provides sensation all the way down the leg (lumbar spine).
The RF ablation most physicians think of is called a RF medial branch neurotomy which is a heat lesion to the nerves supplying the facet joints only (localized in the back).
Many untrained physicians use the two terms inappropriately interchangeably. They are not the same procedure....
Many pain docs, thinking patients will not know the difference, may use the term "rhizotomy" when they really mean radiofrequency medial branch neurotomy.