Letter to the Editor concerning “Intraosseous basivertebral nerve ablation for the treatment of chronic low back pain: a prospective randomized double-blind sham-controlled multi-center study” by Fischgrund JS, et al. [Eur Spine J; (2018) 27(5): 1146–1156]

[摘要] We read with great interest the study by Fischgrund JS et al., which appeared in the European Spine Journal. In this prospective randomized double-blind sham-controlled multicenter study, they demonstrated the efcacy of intraosseous radiofrequency ablation of the basivertebral nerve to treat chronic low back pain in patients with Modic type 1 or 2 changes of the vertebral endplates. At the same time, treatment was limited to a minimum of two and a maximum of three consecutive vertebral body levels from L3–S1. Most commonly, L5–S1 (122/224 patients) and L4–L5 (45/224) followed by L4–L5–S1 (41/224) were treated. In other words, a total of 163 S1 vertebral bodies (72.77%) were treated. Targeted location was the branch point or terminus of the basivertebral nerve, typically between 40 and 60% of the posterior to anterior distance across the vertebral body.