INTRACEPT: A Certain Nerve Is Key
Vertebral endplates – found on either side of the disc – can become damaged over time, causing inflammation and back pain.
The basivertebral nerve (BVN), found within the vertebrae, carries these back pain signals from the inflamed endplates to the brain.
The Intracept Procedure Can Relieve the Pain
The Intracept Procedure is a same-day procedure performed in an outpatient surgery center. Unlike some major surgeries, the Intracept Procedure is implant-free and preserves the overall structure of the spine.
The Intracept Procedure involves heating the basivertebral nerve with a radiofrequency probe to stop it from sending pain signals to the brain. Patients are under anesthesia, and the procedure generally lasts an hour.
Different from other nerves in the body that regenerate, the BVN has not shown an ability to grow back as a pain-transmitting nerve following the Intracept Procedure.
Who should consider the intercept procedure?
Symptoms include low back pain with little to no radiation. MRI findings include Modic changes, end plate deformity or irregularity, and Schmorl’s nodes.
What is the procedure like?
Following a small incision, Xray guidance is used to target the basivertebral nerve. Once the correct position is verified, radiofrequency energy, or heat, disrupts or impairs the basivertebral nerve, which in turn will stop the transmission of pain signals. Intracept is an outpatient procedure, which does not involve an implant or change the structure of the spine.
What is the aftercare like?
Each patient, along with the provider, will determine appropriate recovery time and activities. Most patients that have undergone the Intracept® Procedure have been able to resume regular activities within a week or two after the procedure. Most people start to feel pain relief within two weeks after the Intracept Procedure. And what separates the Intracept Procedure from other radiofrequency ablation procedures is its long-term relief after a single procedure.
Patients in a recent study reported their improvements in function and pain relief lasted more than 5 years following the procedure – with over a third of these patients indicating they were totally pain-free.