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For facet-mediated lower back pain that has failed conventional pain management, a new option is available at Lehigh Valley Orthopedic Institute: endoscopic medial branch nerve transection (MBNT).
“This minimally invasive technique is used in persons who achieve significant low back pain relief from diagnostic medial branch blocks or who have not had long-term relief from radiofrequency ablation (RFA),” says board-certified orthopedic spine surgeon Jeffrey McConnell, MD, Associate Chief of Orthopedic Surgery, Lehigh Valley Orthopedic Institute. “If a person has 80 to 100 percent low back pain relief over one to four hours with a medial branch block, they are likely a good candidate.”
Unlike RFA, endoscopic MBNT allows direct visualization of the nerve being treated. Dr. McConnell says two painful facet joints can be treated through three 6-millimeter incisions as an outpatient procedure. Individuals can return to normal activity very shortly after the treatment. He adds that people with certain types of herniated disks may also benefit from the endoscopic spinal surgery technique.
“While the literature is still evolving, when we compare persons who have had medial branch nerve transection to those who have had radiofrequency ablation, medial branch nerve transection is shown to have better and longer-lasting improvement of their lower back pain,” Dr. McConnell says.
Dr. McConnell is the first and currently the only spine surgeon in the area offering endoscopic spine surgery.
