The Comparison Of Clinical Outcomes Of Percutaneous Discectomy Combined With Radiofrequency Ablation By Disc-FX System With Methylene Blue Injection In The Treatment Of Discogenic Low Back Pain

Objective: To compare the clinical outcomes of percutaneousdiscectomy combined with radiofrequency ablation by Disc-FX System withmethylene blue injection in disc for discogenic low back pain.Methods:40patients underwent surgery either by methylene blueinjection in disc (20patients, group I)or percutaneous discectomy combinedwith radiofrequency ablation by Disc-FX System (20patients，group II) usingrandom number from March2010to February2011.The theraputic effect wasevaluated by comparing Oswestry Disablity Index(ODI)and Visual AnalgueScores(VAS) for discogenic low back pain patients＇ preoperative andpostoperative．Results: All patients were followed up for16to27months, with anaverage of19.3months. there was no major complication with patients. Thepostoperative VAS and ODI were significantly Lower than preoperative inboth groups (p<0.01).There was no significant difference between the twogroups before operation and3d after operation (P>0.05). The VAS and ODIof3m,6m and12m after operation in group II were significantly lower thangroup I (p<0.05).And the excellent rate (85%) of group II was significantlyhigher than that in group Ⅰ (75%), the difference was statistically significant(P <0.05).Conclusion: Percutaneous discectomy combined with radiofrequencyablation by Disc-FX System and methylene blue injection in disc can achievea satisfactory clinical effect for discogenic low back pain. But percutaneousdiscectomy combined with radiofrequency ablation by Disc-FX System wasbetter than methylene blue injection in disc in short and medium term effect.