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IDET for Sciatica
IDET for sciatica is a minimally invasive surgery formally named Intradiscal Electrothermal Therapy or Intradiscal Electrothermal Annuloplasty (IDEA). Like all surgical procedures, this technique should only be considered once all conservative
sciatica treatment
options have failed.
What is IDET for Sciatica?Intradiscal Electrothermal Therapy is performed as an outpatient procedure and sometimes done right in the doctor’s office. The surgeon will make a small incision in the back and insert a thin catheter into the herniated disc. The catheter is heated in order to burn off some of the internal nucleus pulposus which is placing stress on the bulging disc wall. This procedure will remove enough nucleus material to shrink the disc back into a more typical size and shape and hopefully resolve any problematic pinched nerve or spinal stenosis condition the bulge was creating. The operation takes less than 1 hour and the patient can go home immediately.IDET for Sciatica IndicationsIntradiscal Electrothermal Therapy is only used for patients with herniated disc based radicular pain. More specifically, the disc herniation must be contained, since this technique will not work well with ruptured discs or discs with a significant annular tear. Intradiscal Electrothermal Therapy is minimally invasive, but is still a surgical procedure and does have inherent risks, including infection, poor results, nerve damage and spinal fluid leaks. Let is be known however, that serious complications are very rare from this procedure.IDET is also used to treat pain theorized to exist due to small nerves finding their way into a damaged disc through tiny annular tears. However, this application is used for back pain, not sciatica, since the minute tissues involved can not possibly enact anything except localized pain, if any at all... IDET AdviceCompared to other full open operations, Intradiscal Electrothermal Therapy is a good option for patients suffering verified sciatica pain from a bulging disc. I do like the nucleoplasty procedure a bit more, even though it is less common. I just believe it to be a more accurate surgical technique, which generally produces slightly nicer results.I do not recommend sciatica surgery of any kind to any patient who can avoid it. This includes such minor procedures as Intradiscal Electrothermal Therapy. There is simply not enough reasons to treat virtually any disc condition surgically and the majority of diagnosed disc problems are not even the actual cause of pain in many individuals. All these factors make surgery a tough line to cross when it comes to deciding on an appropriate sciatica therapy modality. 11/27/08 Revised 12/16/09
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