The spine journal : official journal of the North American Spine Society
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
A randomized, placebo-controlled trial of intradiscal electrothermal therapy for the treatment of discogenic low back pain.
Intradiscal electrothermal therapy (IDET) is a treatment for discogenic low back pain the efficacy of which has not been rigorously tested. ⋯ Nonspecific factors associated with the procedure account for a proportion of the apparent efficacy of IDET, but its efficacy cannot be attributed wholly to a placebo effect. The results of this trial cannot be generalized to patients who do not fit the strict inclusion criteria of this study, but IDET appears to provide worthwhile relief in a small proportion of strictly defined patients undergoing this treatment for intractable low back pain.