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Lumbar Medial Branch Neurotomy

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Encyclopedia of Pain

Synonyms

Lumbar Facet Denervation; Lumbar Facet Rhizolysis; Lumbar Radiofrequency Neurotomy

Definition

Lumbar medial branch neurotomy is a treatment for low back pain stemming from one or more of the zygapophysial joints of the lumbar spine. It involves coagulating the nerves that innervate the painful joint, or joints, with an electrode inserted through the skin. A generator delivers a high-frequency electrical current to the tip of the electrode, which causes the tissues immediately around the tip of the electrode to be heated and, thereby, denatured. Back pain is relieved because nerves incorporated into the heat lesion are made to be unable to conduct nociceptive information from the painful joint or joints (see Radiofrequency Neurotomy, Electrophysiological Principles).

Characteristics

Indications

Lumbar medial branch neurotomy is not a treatment for any form of back pain. It is explicitly and solely designed to relieve pain from the zygapophysial joints. Therefore, the singular...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Paul Dreyfuss

Authors
  1. Paul Dreyfuss
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Physiological Institute, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany

    Robert F. Schmidt

  2. Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, USA

    William D. Willis

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© 2007 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Dreyfuss, P. (2007). Lumbar Medial Branch Neurotomy. In: Schmidt, R., Willis, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Pain. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29805-2_2244

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29805-2_2244

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-43957-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-29805-2

  • eBook Packages: MedicineReference Module Medicine

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