Blanchard Valley Pain Management Now Offering Revolutionary Lower Back Procedure

Blanchard Valley Pain Management, a division of Blanchard Valley Health System, is now offering the Intracept procedure for community members with lower back pain.

Jenn Reese, director of pain management, said about one in six patients who present with low back pain have what is known as vertebrogenic pain. This pain is felt in the middle of the lower back and gets worse during physical activity or long periods of sitting.

"The discs in our spine each contain an endplate, and these act as sort of the ‘shock absorbers' between our vertebrae and discs of the spine," Reese said. "These endplates carry a lot of nerves and are susceptible to damage as we age, causing vertebrogenic pain."

She said not all lower back pain is vertebrogenic pain. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can determine if an individual's endplates are indeed damaged.

"Patients who do have vertebrogenic pain can now get it treated through a simple outpatient procedure," Reese said.

The pain management team will find the nerve inside the damaged endplate that is sending the pain signal to the brain. The physician inserts a radiofrequency probe to ablate the nerve, so it no longer sends this signal to the brain.

"Patients who have had nerve ablations in the past may have had to come in for a repeat procedure sometime after the initial one, as the nerves can regenerate," Reese said. "These basivertebral nerves do not regenerate like other nerves, meaning the relief can be long-lasting."

Intracept is an outpatient procedure and is generally covered by insurance. The procedure itself takes around 30 minutes.

"This is a new tool in our pain management tool belt," Reese said. "Different treatments work for different types of pain, and if you are not a good candidate for Intracept, we will come up with another treatment plan. Advances in science mean that pain treatment, like other aspects of healthcare, includes more options than before."

An initial consultation will start with going over the patient's history, such as what kinds of things make the pain worse, and what has worked to address it in the past. Reese said it can help to keep a "pain diary" to determine these patterns.

"We don't promise to make a patient totally pain-free, as that can be unrealistic. Our goal is to reduce the pain so it no longer interferes with their ability to function in everyday life," she said. "For example, some patients may have the goal of being able to sit and watch their grandchildren's ball games again, while others may just want to be able to run every day errands like grocery shopping. We ask what their goal is and work to make it possible."

For more information, or to make an appointment, please call Blanchard Valley Pain Management at 419.423.5555.