Experience with Intracept.

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Due to reimbursement issues I now do most cases in outside ASC, make very little on the pro fee side. Make more per hour doing bread and butter.
 
bedrock said:
Agree. Though for now intracept only pays well in hospital. Once it makes money in the ASC, Then MBB will crater.
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Plenty of people have multifactorial pain that includes both. But there will be a decrease in patients that are given repeat RFAs q6mo with minimal results each time.
 
SSdoc33 said:
spikes?

its weird how all of a $udden, the type$ of back pain can change. one minute, everyone has facet pain, then the next, its vertebrogenic. very very $trange....
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Right? Kinda like covid 😘
 
SSdoc33 said:
spikes?

its weird how all of a $udden, the type$ of back pain can change. one minute, everyone has facet pain, then the next, its vertebrogenic. very very $trange....
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Strange that this type of pain didn’t exist until the procedure was created.
 
SSdoc33 said:
spikes?

its weird how all of a $udden, the type$ of back pain can change. one minute, everyone has facet pain, then the next, its vertebrogenic. very very $trange....
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It's a shiny new hammer for that pesky nail!
 
lobelsteve said:
Strange that this type of pain didn’t exist until the procedure was created.
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Axial back pain not responsive to facet intervention seemed to be around for as long as I can remember. You doing an ESI every 6-8 weeks for these people or presuming the answer lies with the P.T.?
 
pmrmd said:
Axial back pain not responsive to facet intervention seemed to be around for as long as I can remember. You doing an ESI every 6-8 weeks for these people or presuming the answer lies with the P.T.?
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Surgeons have been fusing these for years. There's just a better option now. Kinda like how RFA has largely replaced IA facet injections.
 
pmrmd said:
Axial back pain not responsive to facet intervention seemed to be around for as long as I can remember. You doing an ESI every 6-8 weeks for these people or presuming the answer lies with the P.T.?
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Axial back pain is not vertebrogenic back pain.
Vertebrogenic pain is a subset of axial back pain.

1628760579198.png



We have seen a rise in this term several times, but only 173 articles in 65 years. No prior treatment was effective. #gamechangerNOTYET
 
We weren’t taught this properly in training so if we are taught now, yes we will see more of something regardless of money
 
lobelsteve said:
Axial back pain is not vertebrogenic back pain.
Vertebrogenic pain is a subset of axial back pain.

View attachment 341965


We have seen a rise in this term several times, but only 173 articles in 65 years. No prior treatment was effective. #gamechangerNOTYET
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Your post made the claim that vertebrogenic pain only began after the procedure was developed. In obvious reality the pain existed and we always mislabeled it as discogenic. Wouldn’t you agree?
 
i believe its a real entity, and intracept may have some utility..... but dont tell me that there are now "spikes" in your clinic with these patients. you are now just paying more attention to modic changes
 
Last edited:
or some company is creating the term vertebrogenic pain to market a new procedure that switches focus to the vertebral nerves rather than the disc.

is it the nerve that is painful, or is it the disc that is causing the nerve to transmit pain signals?

after all, we don't do median branch blocks and RFAs because the median branch hurts...
 
SSdoc33 said:
i believe its a real entity, and intracept may have some utility..... but dont tell me that there are now "spikes" in your clinic with these patients. you are now just paying more attention to modic changes
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This is an obvious statement.
 
pmrmd said:
Your post made the claim that vertebrogenic pain only began after the procedure was developed. In obvious reality the pain existed and we always mislabeled it as discogenic. Wouldn’t you agree?
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Nope. It is discogenic and they are using the term to get away from the failures of treating discs.
 
SSdoc33 said:
i believe its a real entity, and intracept may have some utility..... but dont tell me that there are now "spikes" in your clinic with these patients. you are now just paying more attention to modic changes
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There's a coming tsunami of Modic-related pain. Five cases yesterday. It feels like waking up from a dream and finally seeing reality. #FryTheBone #ModicsAreReal #VivaHOPDSOS
 
lobelsteve said:
Axial back pain is not vertebrogenic back pain.
Vertebrogenic pain is a subset of axial back pain.

View attachment 341965


We have seen a rise in this term several times, but only 173 articles in 65 years. No prior treatment was effective. #gamechangerNOTYET
Click to expand...
Screenshot_20210812-112635.png

Hmm only 45 hits for "facetogenic pain". RFA reps must've corrupted you.
 
RoloTomassi said:
Surgeons have been fusing these for years. There's just a better option now. Kinda like how RFA has largely replaced IA facet injections.
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just like the biased presentation at SIS, you present a false choice.

it is not "intracept or fusion". NONE of these patients should be fused. this should not be your indication, not should you use this as a rationale for the procedure. I agree with your earlier statements re: appropriate candidates for the procedure.
 
160 hits for "facet mediated pain".

2429 hits for "facet arthropathy".

4800 hits for "lumbar spondylosis"

otoh,
536,196 hits for "experimental procedure"
 
Ducttape said:
160 hits for "facet mediated pain".

2429 hits for "facet arthropathy".

4800 hits for "lumbar spondylosis"

otoh,
536,196 hits for "experimental procedure"
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What has now been coined vertebrogenic pain was always just referred to as severe DDD, severe spondylosis, endplate degeneration, reactive marrow changes, etc. My point was it's inaccurate to search a newly coined term and say it's a made up diagnosis based on number of hits
 
RoloTomassi said:
What has now been coined vertebrogenic pain was always just referred to as severe DDD, severe spondylosis, endplate degeneration, reactive marrow changes, etc. My point was it's inaccurate to search a newly coined term and say it's a made up diagnosis based on number of hits
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I agree with this… I think the terminology has evolved and become more specific. If you want to continue call it discogenic then fine. If you want to adopt the new terminology fine. You could call it discovertebral if you wanted, whatevs
 
drusso said:
There's a coming tsunami of Modic-related pain. Five cases yesterday. It feels like waking up from a dream and finally seeing reality. #FryTheBone #ModicsAreReal #VivaHOPDSOS
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Opened your eyes to see back pain as a pain physician because you have new toys to sell.
 
lobelsteve said:
It's all smoke and mirrors to sell the latest and greatest widget. Remember the IDET.
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its very easy to dismiss it off-hand, but im willing to give it a chance. im pretty conservative with this sort of stuff. the basic science at least makes sense.

that being said, i havent done any, and don't even know any of any local docs who do the procedure
 
RoloTomassi said:
What has now been coined vertebrogenic pain was always just referred to as severe DDD, severe spondylosis, endplate degeneration, reactive marrow changes, etc. My point was it's inaccurate to search a newly coined term and say it's a made up diagnosis based on number of hits
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What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet



lets start calling facet arthropathy "medial branchogenic pain" to get coolief approved by insurance...
 
lobelsteve said:
Are you saying there is facetogenic, discogenic, and vertebrogenic pain syndromes?
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sounds reasonable to me. harder to tell the difference between discogenic and vertebrogenic, though. also, id imagine that discogenic and vertebrogenic pain coexist more frequently as they are both anterior column
 
lobelsteve said:
Are you saying there is facetogenic, discogenic, and vertebrogenic pain syndromes?
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Can you articulate a good reason why this is not possible? A pain can be discal with a tear, with possible MRI finding, and probably a younger individual, and possibly from the endplate in an older person after degeneration has put more forces onto the bone than usual. Seems totally reasonable and almost like we have been missing the obvious for a long time.
 
pmrmd said:
Can you articulate a good reason why this is not possible? A pain can be discal with a tear, with possible MRI finding, and probably a younger individual, and possibly from the endplate in an older person after degeneration has put more forces onto the bone than usual. Seems totally reasonable and almost like we have been missing the obvious for a long time.
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I'm seeing an epidemic of Modic-related back pain. It almost makes me wonder if SARS-Cov-2 causes vetebrogenic changes due to inflammation, microvascular disease, or other mechanisms.
 
drusso said:
I'm seeing an epidemic of Modic-related back pain. It almost makes me wonder if SARS-Cov-2 causes vetebrogenic changes due to inflammation, microvascular disease, or other mechanisms.
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A lot more people have been vaccinated against COVID than have had COVID. Maybe it's a vaccine reaction?
 
lobelsteve said:
Nope. It is discogenic and they are using the term to get away from the failures of treating discs.
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Innervation of pathologies in the lumbar vertebral endplate and intervertebral disc - PMC

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

The Role of the Vertebral End Plate in Low Back Pain - PMC

End plates serve as the interface between rigid vertebral bodies and pliant intervertebral disks. Because the lumbar spine carries significant forces and disks don't have a dedicated blood supply, end plates must balance conflicting requirements of ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
 
Once the SIS docs start being able to do it at the ascs that they own, they will be able to publish “strong data” and research to suggest that it is a worthwhile and efficacious treatment
 
Did my first case today.

It reminds me of when I did my first nucleoplasty. I was so excited. What a great name - was it Dekompressor?

I'm much less enthusiastic this time, however.
 
SSdoc33 said:
it is not "intracept or fusion". NONE of these patients should be fused.
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Did this case today. Severe axial LBP. Failed RFA. Failed TFESI and ILESI. Stenosis severe but not as bad on axials. If Intracept not an option, and fails SCS, you wouldn't even consider fusion extension? Anecdotal but I'll let you know how she does 2 weeks after L1/2/3 BVNA
IMG_20210825_140627195.jpg
 
RoloTomassi said:
Did this case today. Severe axial LBP. Failed RFA. Failed TFESI and ILESI. Stenosis severe but not as bad on axials. If Intracept not an option, and fails SCS, you wouldn't even consider fusion extension? Anecdotal but I'll let you know how she does 2 weeks after L1/2/3 BVNAView attachment 342610
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If they were to extend that fusion- it would be 3 additional vertebral levels fused. If successful, she maybe would have 1-2 good years before adjacent level degeneration kicks and this will be a miserable back once again.
 
Crybaby said:
If they were to extend that fusion- it would be 3 additional vertebral levels fused. If successful, she maybe would have 1-2 good years before adjacent level degeneration kicks and this will be a miserable back once again.
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Right, not saying it's a good option, but one of the few left, and I don't get good results with SCS on cases like this
 
RoloTomassi said:
Did this case today. Severe axial LBP. Failed RFA. Failed TFESI and ILESI. Stenosis severe but not as bad on axials. If Intracept not an option, and fails SCS, you wouldn't even consider fusion extension? Anecdotal but I'll let you know how she does 2 weeks after L1/2/3 BVNAView attachment 342610
Click to expand...

you moved the goal posts, as there are confounding factors here....

that being said: if no radicular pain, then no fusion. fusion WILL NOT help the axial LBP.

there does appear to be severe stenosis supra-adjacent to the fusion, so i may consider a lami if the legs are a problem
 
SSdoc33 said:
you moved the goal posts, as there are confounding factors here....

that being said: if no radicular pain, then no fusion. fusion WILL NOT help the axial LBP.

there does appear to be severe stenosis supra-adjacent to the fusion, so i may consider a lami if the legs are a problem
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Wasn't trying to and that wasn't the best example in terms of surgical pros/cons but I guess we'll have to disagree on the axial pain component. I work in a surgical group with very conservative surgeons. I have tons of patients pending Intracept and those who can't wait any longer get surgery. Many are a lot better. Definitely not high success rate but I don't think it's 0 as you do.
 
RoloTomassi said:
View attachment 342610
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Severe axial LBP. Failed RFA. Failed TFESI and ILESI.

Which facets? ESI for axial LBP? Not reasonable. Not going to work. Fusion for axial LBP, not going to work. Stenosis, shmenosis- who cares for axial LBP, it is not causing the problem. Facets ruled out, BVNA reasonable given alternative of SCS, meds, PT.

Would have done L2-3 only, if I did these. Or Belbuca 150 bid and good luck.
 
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