Effectiveness of Percutaneous Intradiscal Decompression Therapy in Thoracic Disc Herniation

Although there have been many studies about lumbar and cervical ablation procedures, few studies have been performed in the thoracic region. To evaluate the clinical results of a percutaneous disc decompression device in patients with radicular symptoms and/or dorsal pain due to thoracic disc herniation.

Eleven patients with thoracic disc herniation and/or degenerative discs (all in T10-T11, or T11-T12 levels) who did not respond to conservative treatments were undergoing ablation and compression procedures. Pain and radicular symptoms consistent with the thoracolumbar region were confirmed via abnormal magnetic resonance imaging findings after detailed anamnesis and physical examination. All patients were evaluated before and 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after treatment using the visual analog scale score. The patient satisfaction scale was used to evaluate the level of patient satisfaction at the end of the treatment at 12 months.

The median visual analog scale score was 7.00±0.45 points before treatment and 2.73±0.65 points at 12 months post-procedure and were statistically significant (p<0.001). The results of pairwise comparisons using the Bonferroni Corrected Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test showed that there were statistically significant differences. The mean visual analog scale score at the beginning (7.00±0.45) was significantly higher than the mean score of other months. Postoperative improvement was significant with a 99% confidence interval. No complications that may cause permanent damage occurred.

Percutaneous disc decompression is an effective and safe procedure to treat pain caused by lower thoracic intervertebral disc disease, which did not respond to conservative treatments.