Latka Kajetan, Kozlowska Klaudia, Waligora Marek, Kolodziej Waldemar, Olbrycht Tomasz, Chowaniec Jacek, Hendryk Stanislaw, Latka Miroslaw, Latka Dariusz
Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital in Opole, Institute of Medicine, University of Opole, 45-001 Opole, Poland.
Center for Minimally Invasive Spine and Peripheral Nerves Surgery Latka and Partners, 45-064 Opole, Poland.
Brain Sci. 2021 Oct 28;11(11):1434. doi: 10.3390/brainsci11111434.
Patients with degenerative disc disease may suffer from chronic lumbar discogenic (DP) or radicular leg (RLP) pain. Minimally invasive DiscoGel therapy involves the percutaneous injection of an ethanol gel into the degenerated disk's nucleus pulposus. This paper compares the 1-year outcome of such treatment in DP and RLP patients. We operated on 67 patients (49 men and 18 women) aged 20-68 years (mean age 46 ± 11 years) with DP ( = 45) and RLP ( = 22), of at least 6-8 weeks duration, with no adverse effects. We evaluated the treatment outcome with Core Outcome Measures Index (COMI) and Visual Analog Scale (VAS). A year after the ethanol gel injection, in the DP cohort, COMI and VAS dropped by 66% (6.40 vs. 2.20) and 53% (6.33 vs. 2.97), respectively. For the RLP patients, the corresponding values dropped 48% (7.05 vs. 3.68) and 54% (6.77 vs. 3.13). There were no differences between the cohorts in COMI and VAS at the follow-up end. Six months into the study, 74% of DP and 81% of RLP patients did not use any analgesics. Ethanol gel therapy can be effective for many patients. Moreover, its potential failure does not exclude surgical treatment options.
患有椎间盘退变疾病的患者可能会遭受慢性腰椎间盘源性疼痛（DP）或神经根性腿痛（RLP）。微创DiscoGel疗法包括经皮向退变椎间盘的髓核内注射乙醇凝胶。本文比较了DP和RLP患者接受这种治疗1年的结果。我们对67例年龄在20 - 68岁（平均年龄46±11岁）的患者进行了手术，其中DP患者45例，RLP患者22例，病程至少6 - 8周，且无不良反应。我们使用核心结局指标指数（COMI）和视觉模拟量表（VAS）评估治疗结果。乙醇凝胶注射1年后，在DP队列中，COMI和VAS分别下降了66%（从6.40降至2.20）和53%（从6.33降至2.97）。对于RLP患者，相应的值下降了48%（从7.05降至3.68）和54%（从6.77降至3.13）。随访结束时，各队列在COMI和VAS方面没有差异。研究6个月时，74%的DP患者和81%的RLP患者未使用任何镇痛药。乙醇凝胶疗法对许多患者可能有效。此外，其潜在的失败并不排除手术治疗选择。
