Posted on September 29, 2024
Back pain is extremely common. Many people have chronic persistent, lower back pain that inhibits their ability to stand, walk, or easily change positions. Although common, diagnosing and treating lower back pain is not simple. This is because back pain can emanate from a variety of causes, including the lower facet joints, lumbar discs, vertebrae, or sacroiliac joints.
Once adults reach the age of 60, at least 40% of lower back pain is reflected through the facet joints of the lower spine. As discs begin to thin with aging, more of the load to the spine is carried through the rear facet joints.
This additional stress causes the joints to enlarge and deteriorate. With these arthritic joints, movement will cause the nerves that invigorate these joints to flare, becoming a frequent source of pain with standing, bending and walking.
Early treatment of lumbar facet pain includes oral medication, physical therapy, and radiofrequency ablation (heat denervation) of the nerves to the facet joints. When such conservative treatment fails to provide relief, a posterior facet ION™ fusion may be indicated.
To determine the true source(s) of your pain, we use diagnostic injections to pinpoint which joints are affected. One of our pain management physicians will perform facet joint injections to diagnose and temporarily alleviate the specific source of pain. Once the proper joints are identified, a facet fusion can be considered.
Facet fusion is a minimally invasive stabilization procedure that can mean avoiding larger fusion procedures performed in hospitals. Through this, there is much less potential for complications such bleeding, nerve damage, or infection than larger hospitalbased fusions. And, patients have quicker recoveries.
The minimally invasive ION™ procedure is designed to stabilize the facet joints. ION uses bilateral titanium implants (the size of a Tic Tac) to fuse the painful joints in a procedure that takes about 30 minutes to perform. The fused joint prevents movement, leading to relief of pain.
After the procedure, patients wear a back brace for the first 4 weeks. It typically takes about 1-2 weeks to return to an office or sedentary job and may take 6 weeks or so to return to activities that are more physical.
A common indication for facet fusion is to treat low back pain associated with slippage of the vertebrae (spondylolisthesis).
This slip can cause excess motion and pain in the facet joints. The ION implant may help stabilize the spine and prevent unwanted movement, hopefully to avoid the need for major fusion surgery.
Another common reason for the ION procedure is to address back pain above or below a prior lumbar fusion. The goal here is to stabilize the adjacent spine segment to avoid another and even larger fusion!
Also, sometimes ION facet fusion is performed when facet joint pain has stopped responding to radiofrequency ablation.
We have found ION to be a straight-forward and safe alternative to enduring more major spine surgery. Patients appreciate a procedure that only requires a tiny incision and allows them to return to their daily lives much more quickly, generally within a week or two.
The physicians of Advanced Pain Management & Spine Specialists are known for attentive listening skills in patient communications. Thus, we are always striving to meet the needs for patients who desire alternatives to major surgery. We’ve added the ION™ facet fusion to our many options that are minimallyinvasive and offer long-term pain relief.