Intradiscal electrothermic therapy (IDET) for disc-related low back pain

Intradiscal electrothermic therapy (IDET) is an experimental, minimally invasive treatment for spinal disc-related chronic Low Back Pain. This type of persistent disc pain is thought to be caused by nerve fibers that have grown from their normal location in the outer layers of the disc, reaching into the disc interior.

Before an IDET procedure, you are given a sedative and a local anesthetic. Using "live" X-ray imaging (fluoroscopy), a doctor inserts a hollow needle containing a thin flexible tube (catheter) and heating element into the spinal disc. The catheter is positioned in a circle around the inside of the disc, and is then slowly heated to about 194 F. The heat is meant to kill the nerve fibers and toughen the disc tissue, sealing any small tears. Antibiotics, either given into a vein (intravenous) or injected into the disc, are used to prevent a disc infection.