RESUMO
INTRODUCTION: Disc disease is one of the most common causes of lumbar pain. The new era of treatments for degenerative disc disease involves the use of minimally-invasive thermal technologies allowing for collagen remodeling and destruction of nociceptors in the annulus. However, a better understanding of the treatment pathophysiology is needed. The purpose of this study was to measure intradiscal temperature variation after thermodiscoplasty. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A human cadaver spine specimen was obtained and divided into blocks, each composed of two intervertebral plates and an intact disc. Radio frequency was applied at five spots with three different time intervals. Temperature was measured in each of the combinations. Units were weighed before and after treatment. Finally, the disc was exposed and the tightening achieved with each radio frequency application was measured. Data were analyzed with the SPSS software. RESULTS: The mean weight reduction obtained was 1.4 g on average (SD 0.599), with values between 0.5 and 2.6 grams. Mean temperature in the posterior rim of the annulus was 37.6 degrees C and mean temperature variation was 3.0 degrees C (SD 6.407). Mean tightening achieved in all blocks overall was 1.4 mm. DISCUSSION: The results obtained show the effectiveness of radio frequency thermodiscoplasty when performed within the safety parameters. Temperature values with radio frequency were lower than those found in comparable studies. The weight and the tightening show the effect of disc shrinking and dehydration. This report is an effective tool to define time parameters for the application of this technology.
