Swift Institute first in Reno ASC to perform the Intracept procedure, Minimally Invasive Treatment Option for Chronic Back Pain
Dr. Hugh McDermott recently became the first in Northern Nevada to perform the Intracept procedure at an ASC. For those with chronic back pain, the new minimally invasive “Intracept” procedure can provide lasting pain relief.
Many patients with CLBP do not know where their pain is coming from: They just know they hurt and haven’t found an answer. Research over the past 30 years has shown that, for many of these patients, their pain is caused by damage to vertebral endplates, the interface between the disc and the vertebral body. This low back pain is vertebrogenic pain—and Swift Institute together with Relievant is leading the way to diagnose and treat this condition.
Vertebral endplates – found on either side of the disc – can become damaged over time, causing inflammation and back pain. The basivertebral nerve (BVN), found within the vertebrae, carries these back pain signals from the inflamed endplates to the brain.
The Intracept Procedure
The Intracept Procedure is a same-day procedure performed in an outpatient surgery center. Unlike some major surgeries, the Intracept Procedure is implant-free and preserves the overall structure of the spine. The Intracept Procedure involves heating the basivertebral nerve with a radiofrequency probe to stop it from sending pain signals to the brain. Patients are under anesthesia, and the procedure generally lasts an hour. Different from other nerves in the body that regenerate, the BVN has not shown an ability to grow back as a pain-transmitting nerve following the Intracept Procedure.
The Intracept® System enables a physician to effectively target and ablate the basivertebral nerve to provide relief of vertebrogenic chronic lower back pain (CLBP). The Intracept System includes purpose-built Intracept® Access Instruments for creating a path to the basivertebral nerve (BVN), proprietary radiofrequency (RF) ablation technology for effectively ablating the BVN, and comprehensive training and case support.
What to Expect Following the Procedure
Following the procedure, the doctor may recommend some precautions to take – and after a brief recovery period, most people resume normal activities. Most people start to feel pain relief within two weeks after the Intracept Procedure. And what separates the Intracept Procedure from other radiofrequency ablation procedures is its long-term relief after a single procedure. Patients in a recent study reported their improvements in function and pain relief lasted more than 5 years following the procedure – with over a third of these patients indicating they were totally pain-free.
