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Spine Surgery : IDET (Intradiscal Electrothermal Therapy)
The IDET is a simple procedure which consists of inserting a special wire in the disc that is painful and heating it up with an electrical current. This coagulates the disc material, sealing the fissures and destroying the pain receptors in the posterior part of the disc, therefore numbing it up.
The procedure is done with the patient awake but sedated. The wire is introduced through a long needle inserted in the back through an oblique entry under X-ray control. The wire curves along the back part of the disc and is electrically charged to heat the wire as well as the surrounding disc material.
The IDET works best when the painful disc has not collapsed more than 50%. The procedure is an outpatient surgery. Recovery takes 1-2 weeks. Post-operative exercises are necessary for a few months thereafter. Return to heavy labor takes a few months, just as with other disc procedures, and 75 to 80% of the patients improve. Complications are rare, but infection and injury to the nerve root that exits at the operative level are always possible.
The IDET does not work as well when the disc space is collapsed more than 50%. In that case a fusion might be indicated. At this time, this surgery is only done in the lumbar region.
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