The Korean journal of pain
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Low back pain secondary to discopathy is a common pain disorder. Multiple minimally invasive therapeutic modalities have been proposed; however, to date no study has compared percutaneous laser disc decompression (PLDD) with intradiscal injection of radiopaque gelified ethanol (DiscoGel®). We are introducing the first study on patient-reported outcomes of DiscoGel® vs. PLDD for radiculopathy. ⋯ Both techniques were equivalent in pain reduction but DiscoGel® had a greater effect on decreasing disability after 12 months, although the rate of progression to secondary treatments and/or surgery was almost equal in the two groups.