Efficacy of Coblation Annuloplasty in Discogenic Low Back Pain: A Prospective Observational Study

In degenerative disc, the innervated outer annulus is confirmed to the major origin resulted in discogenic pain. To alleviate the discogenic pain, annuloplasty with electrothermal technology was proved to be effective, which mainly involves the thermal heating of the annulus to denature collagen fibers and denervate posterior annular nerve fibers. However, little is known that efficacy of annuloplasty with coblation technology in treating discogenic pain through directly interrupting nerves in outer annulus. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical outcomes of coblation annuloplasty for the treatment of discogenic low back pain. In a clinical prospective observational study, 17 consecutive patients with discogenic low back pain underwent coblation annuloplasty under local anesthesia. Pain visual analogue scale (VAS) scores, patient responses stating significant (≥50%) pain relief, and modified MacNab criteria were adopted to evaluate the pain intensity, degree of pain relief, and functional status after 6 months of follow-up. The preoperative pain VAS score was 6.5 ± 0.8(95% confidence interval [CI] 6.1–6.9) and the pain VAS score decreased to 2.9 ± 1.6 (95% CI 2.1–3.8), 2.9 ± 1.7 (95% CI 2.1–3.8), 3.2 ± 1.6 (95% CI 2.4–4.1), 3.2 ± 1.7 (95% CI 2.4–4.2) at 1 week and 1, 3 and 6 month postoperatively, respectively. 12 (70.6%), 11 (64.7%), 10 (58.8%) and 10 (58.8%) of patients reported significant pain relief at 1 week and 1, 3 and 6 months postoperatively. At 1, 3, and 6 months postoperatively, the numbers of patients with “excellent” or “good” ratings were 13 (76.5%), 11 (64.7%), and 10 (58.8%) according to the modified MacNab criteria. No serious complications were observed. The finds show that coblation annuloplasty is an effective, safe, and less uncomfortable procedure in managing discogenic low back pain.