Medical Breakthroughs: Burning away back pain
Once confined by excruciating back pain, Andrea Beagle’s world was transformed thanks to a groundbreaking medical procedure.
According to interventional pain specialist Kevin "Buzz" Barrette with the Scripps Clinic Medical Group, Beagle was suffering from vertebrogenic back pain.
“The last level of her low back, at l5s1, is an area where the disc has degenerated,” Barrette said.
A new procedure called Basivertebral Nerve Ablation, or BVN, shuts off the pain signal from the spine to the brain.
“This is, really, one of the first great breakthroughs we've had from a back pain standpoint,” Barrette said.
Under the procedure, an instrument is inserted into the vertebrae through a small incision in the back.
“This ablation actually burns the little nerve that supplies sensation to that specific area,” Barrette said.
The procedure doesn't structurally fix the problem, but it does help with the pain.
“This procedure changed everything for me,” Beagle said.
Patients typically have a minimal recovery process at BVN Ablation, and can return to their normal activities almost immediately.
Medicare covers the procedure, as well as most insurers.
Watch the video above for the full story.